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Wm 4»lfc-5«''« oJ«c«<8. 



B COLLBCTING Ain> PBIHTIHO 



RELICS OF POPULAB ANTIQUITIES, &c. 



THE YEAR MDCCCLXXTIII. 



PUBUCATIOMS 
THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. 

IV. 



PSESIDENT. 
The Right Honourable Earl Beauchamp, F.S.A. 

VICE-PBESIDENTS. 

H. C. Coote, Esq., F.S.A. 

W. R. S. Ralston, Esq., M.A. 

E. B. Tylor, Esq., LL.D. F.R.S. 



COUNCIL. 



Edward Brabrook, F.S.A. 
James Britten, FX.S. 
Dr. Robert Brown. 
Sir W. R. Drake, F.S.A. 
G. L. Gomme, F.S.A. 
Henry Hill, F.S.A. 



A. Lang, M.A. 
,F. Ouyry, F.S.A. 
The Rev. Professor Sayce, M.A. 
Edward Solly, F.R.S., F.S.A. 
William J. Thoms, F.S.A. 
W. S. W. Vaux, M.A. 



DIEECTOK.— William J. Thorns, F.S.A. 



HON. SEC— G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., 2, Park Villas, Lonsdale Road, Barnes, S.W. 



EEMAINES OF GENTILISME AND 

JUDAISME. 



BY JOHN AUBREY, R.S.S. 



1686-87. 



EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY 

JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S., 

COMPILER OP " OLD COUNTEY AND FARMING WORDS: " JOINT AUTHOR OF 
"A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PLANT-NAMES," &C., &C. 



LONDON: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY BY 

W. SATCHELL, PEYTON, AND CO., 

12, TAVISTOCK STREET, CO VENT GARDEN, W.C. 

1881. 



PREFACE. 



The manuscript (Lansdowne MSS. 231), which is 
now for the first time printed in its entirety for the 
members of the Folk-Lore Society, has long been 
known to lovers of folklore ; and more or less copious 
extracts from it have been published in at least three 
different works. Attention seems to have been first 
directed to it by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Henry Ellis, 
who made extracts from it in his edition of Brand's 
Popular Antiquities (1813). More copious selections 
from it will be found in Timers Telescope for 1826, 
where, in the ^' Advertisement," it is referred to as 
follows : "To Henry Ellis, Esq., Keeper of the 
MSS. in the British Museum, our especial acknow- 
ledgments are due for many kind hints and com- 
munications, particularly as it regards some MSS. 
in the Lansdowne Collection that have escaped the 
researches of our literary ferrets, and the extracts 
from which cannot fail of proving an agreeable 
novelty to our readers." These extracts will be foimd 
at pp. 38, 40, 71, 74, 91, 98, 117, 123, 132, 158, 227, 
231, 233, 251, 293-7, 302. In 1839 Mr. W. J. Thoms 
made numerous extracts for a volume entitled Anecdotes 
and Traditions^ published by the Camden Society; 
to these extracts he appended notes which greatly 

h 



U PBEFACE. 

increased their value ; the more important of them 
will be found in the Appendix (I.) to the present 
volume, the initials ^^ W. J. T." being affixed to them, 
as well as the page where they will be found in the 
Anecdotes. In his preface Mr. Thoms says that with 
one exception the selections differed from those made 
by Ellis, which last, " combined with those here 
printed, may be said to comprise everything deserving 
of publication contained in the volume." 

Notwithstanding this dictum of one peculiarly able 
to form a judgment in the matter, the Folk-Lore So- 
ciety determined, soon after its establishment, to print 
the whole MS. Mr. Thoms's book has long been unob- 
tainable ; the extracts in Timers Telescope were 
hardly known — I have met with no reference to them; 
so that all that could be considered available for 
general use was contained in Ellis's edition of Brand, 
and this represents but a small portion of the whole 
work. In the present volume a faithful transcript is 
offered to the reader. I have carefully collated the 
proofs with the original ; and, although it would be 
presumption to suppose that no errors of transcription 
from the somewhat crabbed MS. have arisen, I hope 
that these are but few and unimportant. 

The work in its printed form speaks for itself : I 
may however be allowed to point out one or two cir- 
cumstances connected with it. The MS. was evidently 
intended by Aubrey as a rough draft of what was 
intended to have been an elaborate work. As it 
stands it is disjointed, and there are numerous repe- 



PREFACE, lU 

titions, while the same subject is alluded to in many 
separate passages. It was thought best to print the 
whole as it stood, and to trust to a comprehen- 
sive index to bring together the various references 
to the same subject. I have sometimes introduced 
cross-references in the text, but it was not possible to 
do this systematically ; so that it will be necessary to 
consult the index to ascertain all the references to a 
given subject. Any suggestions or additions which I 
have entered in the text are placed in square brackets, 
as are also my own footnotes. Dr. White Kennett's 
initials are affixed to many of the notes; many more 
are in his handwriting, but not initialed, and to these I 
have appended/* W. K." in square brackets. I have 
sometimes verified Aubrey's references and amplified 
his quotations, and here again square brackets will indi- 
cate what I have done, but I have not had the leisure 
to make these references at all complete. In one or 
two cases I have been obliged to omit a word or two 
which even in a reprint would be considered unsuit- 
able for publication ; but I have almost always allowed 
the text to stand as written, even at the risk of 
offending the scrupulous reader. I have thought this 
also the right course to adopt, because, had I cut 
out matters which seem to me offensive, I should 
have excised several passages which reflect unfairly 
upon the Catholic Church, as well as one or two to 
which Christians of all denominations would probably 
take exception. I need hardly say that I do not share 
Aubrey's views upon these matters. 



IV PREFACE. 

The RemaineSj while containing much of value, are 
not of equal merit throughout. Aubrey had the faculty 
of collection rather than that of selection, and he was 
clearly inclined to be credulous, and thought to be so 
by some of his most noteworthy contemporaries. The 
great naturalist John Ray, for example, expresses 
himself plainly on this head in a letter printed by 
Aubrey in the Natural JSistory and Antiquities of 
Surrey (v. 410). He says : — 

" I think (if you can give me leave to be free with 
you) that you are a little too inclinable to credit 
strange relations. I have found men that are not 
skilful in the history of nature very credulous, and apt 
to impose upon themselves and others, and therefore 
dare not give a firm assent to anything they report 
upon their own authority, but are ever suspicious that 
they may either be deceived themselves, or delight to 
teratologize (pardon the word), and to make show of 
knowing strange things.'- 

In the same work, however (iv. 407, Appendix), 
Aubrey gives the following justification of his con- 
duct : — 

'' It may seem nauseous to some that I have raked 
up so many old western proverbs, which I confess I 
disdain not to quote. Pliny himself being not afraid 
to call them oracles, lib. 18, cap. 4: ^Ac primum 
omnium oraculis majore ex parte agemus, quae non in 
alio vitae genere plura certiorave sunt.' For pro- 
verbs are drawn from the experience and observation 
of many ages, and are the ancient natural philosophy 



PREFACE. V 

of the vulgar, preserved in old English and Norse 
rhymes handed down to us, and which I set as instantiae 
crucis, for our curious modem philosophers to examine, 
and give 810X19 to their 'OXt?." 

At the present day, whatever we may think of 
Aubrey's credulity, all folk-lorists are glad that he did 
not " disdain to quote " the proverbs, sayings, and 
traditions of the people. 

With regard to the notes which I have here and 
there added, a word or two of explanation seems 
needed. When I undertook to edit the work at the 
request of the Council of the Folk-Lore Society, I had 
hoped that these would be much more numerous, and 
that I should have obtained much help in my work 
from those who were far more fitted than myself to 
undertake the task. I regret to say that, although 
the work was sent in slip-proof to all the Members of 
the Council, I have received no assistance whatever 
from the greater number of them. I do not wish to be 
imderstood as complaining of this want of assistance 
— ^I know too well what it is to be more than fully 
occupied — ^but I mention this as tending to explain 
the fewness of the notes. Mr. Coote has given me 
one or two notes which will be found in the Appendix 
(I.), and to him and to Mr. Satchell I am indebted for 
much help in verifying the classical quotations. Mr. 
Solly has kindly assisted me on one or two points, and 
Mr. Gomme has been, as he always is, helpful. The 
authorities at the British Museum, with their usual cour- 
tesy, gave every facility for the transcription of the MS. 



VI PREFACE. 

I soon saw that to do the work as it should be done 
would be to render it a complete treatise upon folklore, ( 

so varied are the matters upon which it touches ; and S 

this was not the intention of the Society in issuing the 
volume, which should be looked upon rather as a col- 
lection of suggestive notes, or a storehouse from which 
all may take away what suits them best. I have been 
at some pains, however, to collect from Aubrey's other 
works such passages as belong to folklore, and these I 
have placed in the Appendix. 

The Natural Hist, of Wiltshire quoted is the volume 
edited by John Britton in 1847 for the Wiltshire 
Topographical Society ; one or two of his additional 
notes, signed J. B., are added. By the kindness of 
the Royal Society I have been able to consult their 
MS. of this work ; the extracts I have made from this, 
which have not previously been published, are referred 
to as Royal Soc, MS. I have not made extracts from 
what is perhaps Aubrey's most important work from 
a folklore point of view — I mean his Miscellanies; 
to have done so would have unduly extended the 
present volume, and moreover it is easily accessible in 
the cheap and handy reprint issued in 1857 by J. 
Russell Smith, which no folklorist should be without. 
Another work which I think is not as well known as it 
should be, and which may profitably be consulted by 
students, is Mr. T. J. Pettigrew's little volume On 
Superstitions connected with the History and Practice 
of Medicine and Surgery. (London, 1844, pp. 167.) 

I may perhaps be allowed to point out how fully 



PEEFACE. VU 

Aubrey ^s remark at p. 26, as to the effect of a great 
social convukion like a civil war upon the customs 
and traditions of the people, is illustrated throughout 
the book. "Before the Civil wars" is a constantly 
recurring date for sayings and customs which Aubrey 
seems to imply, even when he does not actually state, 
did not exist after that period. 

It need hardly be said that Aubrey has by no 
means exhausted the folklore of the classics from 
which he has made extracts. Those which he has 
given are rather indications of the richness of the 
mine which will some day, no doubt, be thoroughly 
worked — ^perhaps by a member of the Folk-Lore 
Society. 

1 have not thought it necessary to give any biogra- 
phical sketch of Aubrey ; the Memoir issued by John 
Britton in 1845 may be consulted on this head. 

I trust that the little I have been able to do, imper- 
fect and unsatisfactory as it is, will be accepted as an 
evidence of my desire to help forward the Folk-Lore 
Society to the best of my power. 

James Britten. 

Isleworth, February, 1881. 



To his ever honoured Friend 

Edmund Wyld of Glaslt Hall in y* County of 

Salop, Esquier, 

These Semaines of Gentilisme are dedicated as a small Token 
of ancient Friendship by Ms affectionate & humble 

Servant 

J. AUBREY. 



REMAINS 

OP 



GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS, 



BY 



J. AUBKEY R.S.S. 



Ovid Fastornfa lib. iv. [vi. 417, 418] 

Caetera jam pridjam didici pnerilibns annsi 
Non tamen idcirco praeterennda mihi. 



See Hospinianus de Festis. 
Feb. 1686-7. 




ChriBtmaa. 

[U-BATCH, Christmas batch Yu-block or Yule-block 
(from Aeolus ?) (i.) a Christmas block. Yu-gams or 
Yule-gams, Christmas games : ab A.S. Gehal. Dan. 
yule-dag natalis Christi. hoc forte k Latino-Hebraeo 
Jubilum, Skimier. — Mr. Jo. Ray in his English Words. 

Capt. Potter (bom in the north of Yorkshire) says, that in 
the Countrey churches, at Christmas in the Holy-daies after 
Prayers, they will dance in the Church,^ and as they doe dance, 
they cry (or sing) Yole, Yole, Yole etc. 

Noel signifies Christmas in the French language : it seemes to 
be derived from Yoel as that from Mo\, In y® West-riding of 
Yorkshire on Xtmass eve at night they bring in a large Yule-log ^ 
or Xtmass block and set it on fire, and lap their Christmas Ale, 
and sing, Yule Yule, a Pack of new cards and a Xtmass stool. — 
W. K 

In several parts of Oxfordshire, particularly at Lanton, it is 
y® custom for the Maid Servant to ask the Man for Ivy to dress 
the Hous, and if the Man denies or neglects to fetch in Ivy, the 
Maid steals away a pair of his Breeches and nails them up to y° 
gate in the yard or highway.^ — [W. K.] 

At Danby Wisk in y® North-Riding of Yorkshire, it is the 
custom for y® Parishioners after receiving y® Sacrament, to goe 
from Church directly to the Ale Hous and there drink together 
as a testimony of Charity and friendship. Ex ore T. Lister 
Armig. — W. K. 

K. Arthur having taken York and the British Grentry and 
Nobility lodging there gave themselves to all luxury and volupt- 
eousness as in triumph of their glorious victories. It is reported 
that the celebration of the nativity of our Lord for 13 daies 

> [See Appendix.] ' [See Appendix.] 

* [The Bey. J. G. Blomfield, the present Bector of Lannton, infonns me that 
no trace of this custom now exists there. — ^£d.] 



6 REMAINS OF GENTIUSME AND JUDAISMS. 

together wth immoderate feasting and gluttony nsed at this 
day by y* English and Scots was begun at this time by K. 
Arthur, and that it is nowhere els in use beyond the Seas. — 
Hect. Boet. 1. 9, fol. 160.— [W. K.J 

In the Infancy of Christian Religion it was expedient to plough 
(as they say) with the heifer of the Q-entiles : ( i ) to insinuate 
with them, and to let them continue and use their old Ethnick 
Festivals which they new named with Christian names, e. g. 
Floralia, they turnd to y® Feast of St Philip and Jacob, etc. 
The Saturnalia into Christmas. Had they donne otherwise, 
they could not have gain'd so many Proselytes or established 
their Doctrine so well, and in so short a time, and besides they 
well understood that profound Aphorisme of Numa Pompilius, 
Nulla res efBcacius multitudinem regit, quam Superstitio: of 
which, if taken away, Atheisme and (consequently Libertinisme) 

will certainly come into its |^ ? , >. This after the Ecclesi- 

asticall politie of those times. The Gentiles would not perfectly 
relinquish all their Idols ; so, they were persuaded to tume the 
Image of Jupiter with his thunderbolt to Christus crucifixus, and 
Venus and Cupid into y® Madonna and her Babe, which Mr. Th. 
Hobbes sayth was pnidently donne. See his Leviathan p. [364]. 
See St. Hierome's Epistles. He speakes in one of them of 
their building their Christian Churches where their old Ethnick 
ones were, etc. — Get the Christmas Caroll and the Wasselinff 
Song. 

Old customes and old wives fables are grosse things, but yet 

i,x X A u Iburied in oblivion) ,, , . 

ought not to be j ^^j^ ^^.^^^ j ; there may some truth 

and usefulnesse be Sj^;+q^ I ^^^ o^ them, besides tis' a pleasure 

to consider the errours that enveloped former ages as also the 
present. 

Excerpta out of OviiFs Fastorum 
Lib. L January. 
T. Livy , lib. 1 , Numa Pomp. 

Per totidem (sc. x.) menses a fnnere conjngis nxor 
Snstinet in vidna tristia signa domo. — [35-6.] 



BEMAINS OF GENTIUSME AITD JUDAISME. 7 

It is still accounted undecent for widows to marry within a 
yeare (I thinke) Dr. Tayler siayes, because in that time the 
husbands body may be presumed to be rotten.^ 
• Insert out of the Calender of y® old Ovids Fastorum that I 
have lent to Dr. Goad, the remarqueable observations as to the 
Weather. 

There is a proverb in Welsh of great antiquity, sc, 

Haf hyd gatan 
Gaiaf hyd Fay. 

That is, if it be somerly weather till the Kalends of January, 
it will be winterly weather to the Kalends of May. They look 
upon this as an Oracle.^ 

Democritns talem fatnram hiemem arbitrator, qnalis fnerit bmmse dies, k circa 
enm teim. item solstitio aestatem. — ^Flin. lib. 18, cap. 26. 

[jBbZy Bread."] 



Cni com cereale sacerdos 



Imponit libnm farraq. mixta sale. — [Fasti, i. 127, 128.] 

Libum ' is a cake made of Honey (sugar is a nouvelle, since y« 
discovery of America), meale, and oyle. Hence I suppose are 
derived our Cimnells ' ; also y* Wafer. — N.B. 

Utq. Sacerdotis fngitiyns, liba recnso. — ^Horace, Ep. [Lib. 1, x. 10.] 

" Kichell is a cake, which Horace calleth Libum, and with us is 
called a God's Kichell, because G-odfathers and Godmothers used 
commonly to give one of them to their God-children, when they 
asked blessing."* This word is in the Sompner's tale, fol. 39, 
p. 1. 

I knew an usher of Winchester-schoole whose name was 
Kichell. 

Ibidem Wastell bread (libellus) fine CymnelL 

"Pain benist, Holy bread such as is used in Churches in 
Catholick countries." * 

> [See Coote's "Romans of Britain," pp. 288-291.— Ed.] 
« [See Swainson's " Weather Folk-Lore," pp. 20-24.— Ed.] 

* [See Appendix and p. 14.] 

* Exposition of hard words in Chancer, by Mr. [Francis] Thinne, 

* Cotgraye's Dictionare. 



8 REMAINS OF 6ENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 

Abbas solus prandebit sapremns in ref ectorio habens yasteUiim de qua yoce 
Walsias in Glossario. Si non sit Umbracnlnm ant Baldekinnm (a Canopy) 
nescio quid significat; neqne tamen conjecture possum, quare Umbracnlnm 
Vastellnm diceretur;' quaere. — [W. K.] 

But by the word Vastellus no doubt is meant the Wastel or 
Wassal Bowls, which as a piece of state was placed at the upper 
end of the table for the use of the Abbat, who drank out of that 
Plate a Health or Poculum Charitatis to the rest of the fraternity. 
— W. Kennett. 

Nevyyeara Day* 

Frospera lux oritur: lingnisq' animisq' favete; 
Nunc dicenda bono sunt bona yerba die. — [Fasti, i. 71, 72.] 

Hence the complement of wishing one Happy New yeare. 
Wishing each other a happy-New-yeare. 

.... laeta tuis dicuntnr yerba calendis, 
Et damns altemas accipimusq: preces.— [Fasti, i. 175-6.] 

Newyeara Gifts^ * 

Quid yult palma sibi, mgosaq' carjca, dixi, 
Et data sub niyeo Candida mella fayo. — [Fasti, 1. 185-6.] 

Omens [see pp. 19, 25, 30]. 

Omina principijs, inqnit, inesse solent. 
Ad primam yocem timidas adyertitis anres.: 
Et yisam primum consnlit augur ayem. — [Fasti, i. 178-80.] 

Numa first invented the adoration of dead men's ghosts. 

Omen, ait, causa est, ut res sapor ille seqnatur, 
Et peragat coeptu' dulcis ut annus iter. — [Fasti, i. 187-8.] 

[Dogs Barking J\ 

Exta canum Triyifle.— [Fasti, i. 389.] 

Mdm. — How they bark all night when the moone shines : e. g. 
from Bathe to Oxford : the dogges take their cue from Hamlet 
to Hamlet. 

1 Vit. S. Alban Abbat, Mat. Far. p. 141. 



BEMAINS OF QENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 9 

[^Blesstfiff of Fields.^ 

PagnB ag^t festnm: pagnm Instrate, coloni; 
Et date paganis axmna liba focis. — [Fasti, i. 669-70.] 

To this, seemes to answer, the walking of the young men & 
maydes who recieve the Sacrament on Palme-Sunday, and after 
dinner walke about the Come to bless it ; but this day gives 
many a conception. 

Mdm. at Twelve-tyde at night they use in the Countrey to 
wassaile their Oxen and to have Wassaile-Oakes made. 

PhughmerCB Feasts . . • • Holydaies. 

Gett the song which is sung in the ox-house when they wassell 
the oxen. [See p. 40,] 

Lib. II. Februabt. 

Un-deavened Bread 
Torrida cnm mica farra [Fasti, ii. 24] 

was a Purgamen. 

[Sowle^TOveJl 

The Shepheards, and vulgar people in South Wilts call Feb- 
ruarie Sowlegrove : and have this proverbe of it : viz. Sowle- 
grove sil lew.^ February is seldome warme. 

Absolution, 

Omne nefas, omnemq' mail pnrgamina causam 

Credebant nostri toUere posse senes. 
Grsecia piincipinm moris fait: ilia nocentes 

Impia Instratos ponere facta pntat. 
Actoriden Peleus, ipsnm qnoq' Pelea Phoci 

Cede per HsBmonias soMt Acastns aqaas. — [Fasti, ii. 35-40.] 

Baptisme. 

Solve nefas, dixit: solvit et ille nefas. 
Ah nimiam faciles, qni tristia crimina caedis 
Flnminea toUi posse pntetls aqna. — [Fasti, ii. 44-46.] 



* ^iljpro seld. (i.) seldome. 



10 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAIBME. 

To this agreeth that of St. Paul — Neither circumcision nor 
uncircumcision availeth, but a new creature. [Galatians, vi. 15.] 

There is a custome enjoynd by some Witches and Wizards 
for nocents to leap three times over a rivulet. 

And one of mine Acquaintance B. G. Cramer says that he 
once saw in Germany, in Anhalt, the Boys throwing before an 
old woman suspected to be a witch, an old used broom in her 
way, to see whether she would pass over it or no, which if she 
dos not, take it for a proof to be a witch. — [See p. 25.] 

Fertility of Women. 

nie capram mactat: jnass sna terga pnell® 
FeUibns exsectis percatienda dabant. — [F. ii. 446-6.] 

Meibomius hath writt a little Treatise de Usu Plagrorum in re 
venere^. 

[Phantoms^ 

The phantome of Romulus that appeared to Julius Proculus 
as he walked by a Hedge by moonlight. A single testimony. 

et in tennes ocnlis eyannit auras ; 

Convocat hie popnlos, jnssaq' verba refert — [F. ii. 509-10.] 

Foolea Jioly day. 
We observe it on y® first of April. 

Lux qnoq' car eadem stnltoram festa yocetnr 

Farra tamen yeteres jaciebant, farra metebant; 
Frimitias Cereri farra resecta dabant. — [F. ii. 513, 519-20.] 

And so it is kept in Germany everywhere. 

Nam modo yerrebant nigras pro farre fayillas; 
None ipsas igni corripnere casas.— [F. ii. 523-4.] 

t 

Purgatorie. 

Est honor et tamnlis: animas placate patemas; 

Faryaq* in extinctas mnnera ferte pyras. 
Parya petunt Manes: pietas pro diyite grata est 

Mnnere: non ayidos Styx habet ima deos. 
Tegnla projectis satis est yelata coronis: 

Et sparsffi fmges, parcaq' mica salis: 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISHE AND JUDAfSHE. 11 

Inqne mero moUita Ceres, Tiolieq' solntao: 

Haec habeat media testa relicta via. 
Nee majora reto: sed et his placabilis umbra est. 

Adde preces positis et saa yerba focis. 
Hnnc morem JEneas, pietatis idoneas auctor, 

Attnlit in terras, jaste Latine, tnas. 
Ble patris Genio solemiia dona ferebat ; 

Hinc popnli ritus edidicere pios. — [F. ii. 533-546.] 

• « « « * 

Vix eqnidem credo: bnstis exisse femntnr, 

Et tacitse qnesti tempore noctis ari. 
Perq' yias Urbis, Latosq' nlnlasse per agros 

Deformes animas, ynlgns inane, f enmt. 
Post ea prsBteriti tomalis reddnntnrhonores; 

Frodigiisq' yenit foneribnsq* modus. — [F. ii. 551-556.] 

« • « # • 

Nnnc animn tennes, et corpora fnncta sepnlchris 

Errant; nunc posito pascitnr nmbra cibo. 
Nee tamen hoc ultra, quam qanm [tot] de mense snpersint 

Lnciferi, qaot habent carmina nostra pedes.— [F. ii. 665-668.] 

Childrens teeth burnt. 

When Children shaled their Teeth the women use to wrap, or 
put salt about the tooth, and so throw it into a good fire. The 
above-mentioned Cramer saith that in Germany, in his native 
Country, some women will bid their Children to take the Tooth, 
which is fallen or taken out, and goe to a dark comer of the 
house or Parlour, and cast the same into it thereby saying these 

words: 

Mouse I Here I give the a tooth of bone, 
But giye thou me an Iron-on 

(or Iron Tooth), beleeving, that another good tooth will grow in 
its place. 

Tyeing the tongues of foes with a charme* 

Ecce anus in mediis residens annosa pnellis, 

Sacra facitTacitffi: yix tamen ipsa tacet. 
Et digitis tria thnra tribns snb limine ponit, 

Qua brevis occnitnm mns sibi fecit iter. 
Turn cantata tenet [ligat] cmn fnsco licia plnmbo [rhombo], 

Et septem nigras versat in ore fabas.— [F. ii, 571-576.] 



12 BEMAINS OF GENTILI8ME AND JUDAISME. 

When I was a boy a charme was used for (I think) keeping 
away evill spirits ; w^ was to say thrice in a breath, 

Three blew Beanes in a blew bladder, 
Battle, bladder, rattle. 

Qnodq' pice adstrinxit, quod acn traiecit aena, 

Obsatnm mjensB torret in igne caput: 
Vina qnoqne instillat: yini qnodcnmq' relictnm est, 

Ant ipsa, ant comites, pins tamen ipsa, bibit. 
Hostiles lingnas inimicaq' yinximns [ora] 

Dicit discedens, ebriaq' exit anus. — [F. ii. 577-6S2.] 

There is, in some comers of this Nation some trick or charme 
against an ill tongae, or (as they terme it) labouring under an 
ill tongue, w<* quaere. Mdm. in Mr. Lillies Astrologies there is 

a Beceipt for it, Take Populeam, &c [See Miscellanies, 

p. 139.] 



\I)ay'fatalityy\ 

Some peculiar dales fatal to particular persons, as Matthew 
Paris observes of Thomas Becket, Abp. of Canterbury : — 

Nescitnr qnomodo remm prsBsagio yel eventn contigerit, qnod mnlta beato 
Thomae die Martis mirabilia contigemnt. Die enim Martis scilicet die Thomae 

Apostoli natns extitit [Bend in mnndnm intravit die Martis contra Dia- 

bolnm prsliatnms: Mars enim secnndnm Foetas, Dens belli nnncnpatnr] .... 
Die Martis sederunt Frincipes apnd Nortbamptonam et adversns cnm loqna- 
bantnr. Actns est die Martis in exilmn. Die Martis appamit ei Dominns apnd 
Fontiniacnm dicens: Thoma, Thoma, Ecclesia mea glorificabitnr in sangnine tno. 
Die insnper Martis reversns est ab exilio. Martyrii qnoq' palmam die Martis 
est adeptns .... Venerabile corpns ejns die Martis gloriam translationis sns- 
cepit.— Snb An. 1169, p. 116. 

Oliver Cromwell obtained his two greatest victories at Dunbar 
and Worcester on Septemb. 3, and died on that day An. 1658. — 
[W. K.] 

Et vigilant nostra semper in »de Lares.— [F. ii. 616.] 

Quare if in Ireland or Scotland there is any resemblance of 
the Lares, or of any worship to 'em. 

' [This is treated of at length in Miscellanies, pp. 1-24: see also p. 68. — ^Ed.] 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 1 3 



Charistia : ar/dircu : Lave Feasts* 

Diis generis date thnra bonis. Cioncordia f ertnr 

Illo praecipne mitis adease die. 
Et libate dapes: nt grati pignns amoris, 

Nntriat intinctos missa patella cibos. 
Jamq' nbi snadebit placidos nox oltima somnoe, 

Farca precatiir» snmite yina manus.— [F. ii. 631-636.] 

Drinking good healths and xf King^s health* 

£t bene ycns, patriae, bene, te pater, optime Caesar, 
Dicite snffaso, per sacra verba, mero. — [F. ii. 637-8.] 

Boundsy mere^stonesy and Perambulations. 

Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossns in agro 
Stipes ab antiquis, sic quoq' nmnen babes. — [F. ii. 641-2.] 

Gonyeniant, celebrantq' dapes yicinia simplex; 
Et cantant landes, Termine sancte, toas. — [F. ii. 667-8.] 

4e * 4c He 3(e 

Et sen yomeribns, sen tn pnlsabere rastris, 
Clamato, Mens est hie ager, ille tnns. — [F. ii. 677-8.] 

.... [.an] yeris praennncia yenit hinmdo ? — [F. ii. 853.] 
One swallow makes no spring.* 

Liber III. March. apvOfio^, 

Annus erat, decimum cum Luna repleyerat orbem. 

Hie nmnerus magno tnnc in honore fnit. 
Sen quia tot digiti, per qnos nnmerare solemns: 

Sen qnia bis qnino foemina mense pant. 
Sen quod ad nsq' decern nnmero crescente yenitnr; 

Principinm spatiis snmitnr inde novis. — [F. iii. 121-126.] 

« * * * # 

Assnetos igitnr nnmeros servayit in anno. 
Hoc Inget spatio foemina moesta yimm. — [F. iii. 133-4.] 

The vulgar in the West of England doe call the month of 
March, Lide. A proverbiall ryhthme — 

" Eate Leekes in Lide, and Bamsins in May, 
And all the jeare after Fhysitians may play." 

[For this proyerb in other languages see Mr. Swainson's '' Weather Folk- 
Lore," p. 14— Ed.] 



l4 HEMAIKS OF QfiKTILlSMS AND JUDAISMS. 



Julius CtBsar. 

Ille moras Soils, qnibns in sua signa rediret, 

Traditnr exactis disposnisse notis. 
Is decies senos trecentnin et qninq' diebns 

Junzit, et e pleno tempora [qnarta] die.— [F. iii. 161-164.] 

Faunas and Picua. 

Di sumns agiestes, et qui dominemur in altis 
Montibns. . . .— [F. iii. 816-6.] 

BoUn Goodfelhw. 
Mr. Lane: Moorehouse. [See pp. 81, 86.] 



Weddings (mt [see p. 18]. 

Nnbere siqoa voles, qnamyis properabitis ambo, 
Differ: habent parvn conunoda magna mor».— [F. iii. 393-4.], 

Terms of the Law. 

'< Conjnginm Adventos prohibet, Hilariq' relaxat. 
Septnagiata yetat, sed Paschs octaya redncet; 
Bogatio vetitat, concedit Trina potestas.'' 

Drinking Healths. 



annosq' precantnr 



Quot snmant cyathos ; ad nmnemmq* bibnnt. — [F. iii. 531-2.] 

So Martial [i. 72] : 

NsBvia sex cyathis, septem Jnstina bibatnr. 

Ilia, leyi mitr& canos incincta capillos, 
Fingebat tremnla mstica liba mann. — [F. iii. 669-70.] 

We use Oymnells in Lent (w*^ is in March) and Wafers and 
March-paineSy id est March-bread. 

Canonization of J. Casar* 

Ipsa Timm rapoi, simnlacraq' nnda reliqni, 

QosB cecidit f erro, Caesaris nmbra fnit. 
Ille qnidem coelo positns Jovis atria yidit; 

Et tenet in Magno templa dicata Foro.<M.[Ft iii« 701-704.] 



B£l£AINS OF GBNTILISHfi AKD JUDAISMS. 15 



Altars* 

Ante tnoB ortns arae sine honore fnenint, 

liber, et in gelidis herba reperta focis. 
Te memorant, Gangs totoq' Oriente snbacto, 

Primitias magno seposnisse Jovi. 
Cinnama tn primus captiTaqne thnra, dedisti, 

Deq' trimnphato yisoera tosta bove. 
Nomine ab aactoris dncnnt libamina nomen, 

Libaq' : qnod sacris pars datnr inde focis. 
Liba Deo finnt : snccis quia dnlcibns ille 

Gandet, et a Baecho mella reperta fenmt— [F. iii. 727-736.] 

♦ ♦ * * ♦ 

Cymballs. 

Jamq' erat ad Bhodopen Pangseaq' flmnina Yentom: 

Aerif ere comitnm concrepnire manus. 
£cce noYSB coeunt volncres, tinnitibns acte, 

Qnosq' moyent sonitns aera, seqnuntor apes. 
Golligit errantes, et in arbore clandit inani 

Liber: et inventi praemia mellis habet.*[F. iii. 739-744.] 

Beating brasse-paunes, &c., when Bees doe swarme, y/^^ cus- 
tome is still observed. 

Minerva y® Patronesse of Scholars, Shoemakers, Diers, &c: 
So S^ Luke for Painters, S^ Orispine for Shoemakers, &c. 



Lib. IIIL April. 
Tabors, hence Drummes. 

^— — prisciq' imitAmina facti 
Aera Deae comites rancaq' terga movent.— [F. iy. 211-12.] 

Li Herefordshire, &e. parts of the Marches of Wales, the 
Tabor and pipe were exceeding common : many Beggars begd 
with it : and the Peasants danced to it in the Churchyard on 
Holydayes and Holyday-eves. 

The Tabor is derived from the Sistrum of the Romans (who 
had it from the ) (sc. a brazen or Iron Timbrel). Crotalum 
a Ring of Brass struck with an Iron rod: as we play now with 
the Key and Tongues.^ 

* [See Appendix.] 



16 REMAINS OF GENTIUSKE AND JUDAISME. 

Redeving of Sortes. 

The lot is from the Lord. — ^ProverbB, ch. 16, v. 33, and chap. 18, v. 18. 

Usna abest Veneris: nee fas animalia mensis 
Ponere: nee digitis annnlns nllns [injest— F. vr. 657-8.] 

SampsofCs Foxes. 

Utqne Inat poenas gens hiec, cerealibns ardet: 
Qnoq' modo segetes perdidit, ille perit — [F. iy. 711-2.] 

Fire-Ordeale. 
Gerte ego transilm positas ter in ordine flanunas. — [F. iy. 727.] 

Holy-water^sprinkle. 

Udaq' [yirgaqne] roratas lanrea misit aqnas. — [F. iy. 728.] 

Perfumes offered to ye Gods. 
I, pete yirginea popnlns snffimen ab ara. — [F. iy. 731.] 

* * * ♦ • 

Sanguis eqni snffimen erit, yitnliq' fayilla: 

Tertia res, dnrae cnlmen inane fabae. 
Pastor, oyes satnras ad prima crepnscnla Instret 

Uda prins spargat, yirgaq' yerrat hnmnm. 
Frondibns et fixis decorentor oyilia ramis; 

Et tegat omatas longa corona fores. 
Coemlei fiant pnro de snlfnre fnmi; 

Tactaq' fnmanti snlfnre balet oyis. — [F. iy. 733-740.] 

♦ * :|e m 4t 

Silyicolam tepido lacte precare Palen. 
Consnle, die, pecori pariter pecorisq' magistris: 
Effngiat stabnlis noxa repnlsa meis.— [F. iy. 746-8.] 

So on Marsfield-downe and thereabout, at night they prayd 
to God & S' Oswald to keep the sheep safe in y® Fold : & in 
the morning they prayed to God and S* Oswald to ... . [See 
p. 27.] 

Haec nbi castamm processit ab agmine matmm, 

Et manibns pnris flnminis hansit aqnam, 
Ter caput irrorat, ter toUit in aethera palmas. — [F. iy. 313-316.] 



BEBfAIKS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISHE. 17 

Britannos vero prse Diis aliis Cererem et Proserpinam (quae 
et Isis dicitor) infema ooluisse numina Strabo perUbet. Hino 
infemales sui ritus et noctoma sacra. Nox diem ducit, et per 
noctes, dierum seriem ; per lunas, mensium ; per hyemes, an- 
norum numerant. Sic hodie Sevennight pro vii. diebus, a 
fortenighte quasi fourteen night pro xiv. diebus dicimus. Et 
majores nostri xx, xxx, Ix. winters pro totidem annis recitabunt ; 
hyemem autem ideo conferrabant infemalibus, quod rerum semina 
sub hoc tempore ab eisdem existimabant conservari. — Spehnani 
[cfr. Glossarium, 428, s. v. Noctes]. [W. K,] 

Cheese-fats. 

Dentq' viam liqnido yimina rara eero.— [F. iv. 770.] 



et noB faciamns ad annnm 



Fastonim dominae grandia liba Pali.— [F. iv. 775-6.] 



Praying towards y* East. 



haec tn conyersns ad ortns 



Die ter et in vivo prolne rore manns.— [F. iv. 777-8.] 

Purgation. 

Omnia pnrgat edax ignis, vitimnq' metalliB 
Excoqnit: idcirco cnm dnce pnrgat oves. — [F. iv. 786-6.] 

Burning of the dead, 

Arsurosq* artns unxit (sc. Romnli).— [F. iv. 863.J 
Ultima plorato subdita flamma rogo.^[F. iv. 866.] 

White SurpUsses. 

Obstitit in media Candida tnrba via.— [F. iv. 906.] 

PrtBarnbtdaiion, sc, RvMgalia. 

Nee venti tantnm Cereri nocnere, nee imbres; 

Nee sic marmoreo pallet adnsta gelu; 
Qnantnm, si enlmos Titan incalfaeit udos: 

Turn locus est irae, diva timenda, tuae.— [F. iv. 917-920]. 





18 BEHAIKS OF GEKTXLISMB AND JUDAISMS. 



Lib. V. May. 

PraestitibuB Maiae laribos yidere Kalendae 
Aram constitai, signaqae parya Deum.— [F. y. 129-130.] 

May 'day J v''^^^ St. Philip and Jacob , sc. 1 May. 

Mater, ades, flornin, ladis celebranda jocosis; 

Distnleram partes mense priore tnas. 
Incipis Aprili: transis in tempora Mali. 

Alter te fngiens, cum yenit alter, habet. — [F. y. 183-186.] 

In fastigio Tnrris Collegii S. Magdalenae Oxon, Ministri istins Sodalitii 
chorales, annnatim de more, primo die Maij ad horam qnartam matntinam 
melodic^ cantant. Ant. k Wood, Historia & Antiqnitates Ozo lib. ii. p. 211. 

'Es commonly sayd, in Germany, that the Witches doe meet 
in the night before the first day of May upon an high IMountain, 
called the Blocks-berg, situated in Ascanien, where they together 
with the Devils doe dance, and feast, and the common People doe 
the night before y® said day fetch a certain thorn, and stick it 
at their house-door, believing the witches can then doe them no 
harm. 

Mdm. at Oxford the Boyes doe blow Cows horns & hollow 
Caxes all night ; and on May-day day the young maids of every 
parish carry about their parish Garlands of Flowers, w*^ after- 
wards they hang up in their Churches. 

Commons ^ Forests. 

Venerat in morem popnli depascere saltns: 

Idq' din licnit, poenaq' nnlla fait. 
Vindice seryabat nnllo sna pnblica ynlgns: 

Jamq' in priyato pascere inertis erat. — [F. y. 283-286.] 

Serenades.^ 

Ebrins ad dnmm f ormosae limen amicae 
Cantat: habent nnctae mollia serta comae.— [F. y. 339-340.] 

Dirigesy or Masses for ^ Dead. 

Ritns erit yeteris, noctnma Lemnria, sacri : 
Inferias tacitis Manibns ilia dabnnt.— fF. y. 421-422.] 



' V. Oyid, de Arte Amandi, lib. 



BBMAmS OF GSNTILISMK AKD .TUDAISME. 19 

Sinne-eaters [see p. 33]. 

Jam tamen extincto cineri sua dona ferebant; 

Compositiq' nepos bnsta piebat ayi. — [F. t. 425-6.1 
♦ « • « * 

Signaq' dat digitis medio cmn pollice jnnctis; 

Occnrrat tacito ne levis mnbra sibi. 
Terq' manas pnras fontana perlait nnda; 

Vertitar, et nigras accipit ore f abas. 
Aversnsq' jadt: sed dmn jacit, Haec ego mitto; 

His, inqnit, redimo meq' meosq' fabis. 
Hoc noTies dicit, nee respicit: mnbra pntatmr 

Golligere, et nnllo terga vidente seqai.— .[F. t. 433-440.] 

Holy-water y 8f Power of Belh, 
Bmsos aqua tangit, Temeaaeaq' concrepat aera.— [F. y. 441.] 

Ghosts. 

Mandantem amplecti cnpimit et brachia tendimt 
Lnbrica prensantes effngit mnbra nAnns. — f F. y. 475-6. ] 

Weddings out [see p. 13]. 

Nee yidnae tasdis eadem, nee yirginis apta 

Tempora: quae nnpsit, non dintnma fait. 
Hac qaoq' de causa, si te proyerbia tangnnt, 

Menae malum Maio nnbere ynlgns ait.— [F. y. 487-490.] 

[The Holy Mawle.y 

An old Countrie Story. 

Corpora post decies senos qni credidit annos 
Miasa ned; sceleris crimine danmat ayos. — [F. y. 623-4.] 

The Holy-mawle, w*^^ (they fancy) hung behind the Church 
dore, w®^ when the father was seaventie the sonne might fetch, 
to knock his father in the head, as effoete, & of no more use. 

Rob. SharrocVs ^Tiroffeai/; *K0vKff p. 216. 

Pomp. Mela, lib. 3, cap. de India. 7. Lex erat Sardoae, ut 
filii patres jam senio confectos fustibus caederent, et int^remptos 
sepelirent. Batio legis haec subteritur : 'Aurxpov yap kK. 

' [See Appendix.] 
02 



20 REMAINS OF GENTILISME XSD JUDAISME. 

"Absurdum enim duoebant senectute confractmn ulterius 
vivere, quod labatur, ex multa perperam faciat corpus senectute 
confractum et maceratum," — ^^lian, lib. 4. Var. Hist. c. 1. 

Atc^ banc ipsam sententiam confirmat pulcbella qua extat 
apud Herodotum Historia, Thalia, lib. 3, num. 28. 

This old story of the Holy-mawle, no doubt, was derived from 
the aforesayd histories: but disguised (after the old fashion) with 
the Bomancy-way. 

Holy^waUr-sprinckle. 

Uda fit hinc launis.— [F. y. 677.] 

Lib. VI. June. 

AltarSj & Altar-tables. 

Ante focos olim longis considere scamnis 
Mob erat; et mensae credere adesse deos. — [F. yL 305-6.] 

Old way of Baking^ e.g. amongst y^ poor in Herefs. Sf Wales. 

Sappositam cineri panem focus ipse parabat; 
Strataq' erat tepido tegala qnassa solo. — [F. vi. 315-6.] 

Immuring of Nunnes. 

yiya def odietnr hnmo. 
Sic incesta perit: quia, qnam yiolayit, in illam 
Conditnr: et Tellns Vestaq* nnmen idem e8t.^[F. yi. 458-60.] 

(hnens. 

Non ego te, qnamyis properabis yincere, Caesar, 
Si yetat auspicinm, signa mo?ere yelim. — [F. yi. 763-4.] 

So if a Hare crosseth the way ; or one stumble at the threshold 
goeing-out : it is still held ominous among some countrey people. 

Pipes : hence Organs in Churches, 

M.Q thinks St. Augustin was too straight-laced in not liking 
Organs in Churches: because it was Jewish: no good conse- 
quence. See Dr. Sanderson's Sermon, II. ad Aulam, § 25, Vol. 
i. and sermon 

Cantabit Fanis, cantabat tibia Indis: 
Cantabat moestis tibia funeribas. — [F. yi. 669-60.] 



RSMAINS OF GSNTILISME AND JUDAISM£. 21 



Yorkshire Minstrels j e. g. Uayer^ Fofwnder of St. Bartholomews 

Hospital. 

DnlciB erat mercede labor 

Irish Iiowlings at Funeralls^ also in Yorkshire toithin these 70 

yeares (1688). 

Praeficae mnlieies ad lamentandiim condnctae y Planti, et notas Jan. 

DoQzae.' 

Dacit sapremoB Naenia nulla toros. — [F. vi. 668.] 

(sc. after their banishment.) 

'Tis a great pity that Ovid had not lived, to have finished the 
other six moneths ; wherbj a great deale of enrioos Antiquity 
is losst. 

Of Wliistlinff. 

Mdm. The seamen will not endure to have one whistle on ship- 
board: believing that it rayses winds. On Malvem-hiUs, in 
Worcestershire, &c., thereabotit when they fanne their Come, 
and want wind, they cry Youle ! Youle ! Youle 1 to invoke it, 
w*^'' word (no doubt) is a corruption of ^olus (y* Grod of y* 
Winds). 

This y® above s* Cramer affirmes to be don likewise in Grer- 
many. He being once upon the River Elbe, begun accidentally 
to whistle, which the Watermen presently disliked, and would 
have him rather to forbeare. 

Altars. 

Hosea, ch. iv. v. 13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the 
mountaines, and bum incense upon the hiUs under cakes, and 
poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is good. 

Psalm 78, v. 59. For they grieved him with their Hill-altars, 
and provoked him to displeasure with their Images. The Altars 
many times, in processe of time, became Temples ; for, unles it 
had been at first on such an account, one would wonder to see 

> [The reference is to Tmcnlenti, Act ii. sc. 6, 1. 14. See note in ed. Delph.] 



22 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 

on how high places severall of our churches are placed, e. g. W. 
Wickham, in Bucks, Wierflowe [Winterflow] in Wilts, and 
Pertwood, &c. In the infancy of Xpian religion, they kept the 
old Temples with a new worship, as also y* old Festivalls with a 
new Xpian name. I remember my honoured friend S"^ W. 
Dugdale, told me his Bemarque, viz. that most churches dedicated 
to S* Michael either stood on high ground, or ek had a very 
high Tower or steeple, as at S* Michael's ch: in Comhill. The 
Chapelle on Glastonbury Torre is dedicated to S* Michael. So 
that of S^ Michaels Mount in Cornwall, and I think in Bretiagne, 
in France.^ 

Thunder. 

In time of Thunder they invoke S* Barbara. So S' Gteof: 
Chaucer speaking of y« great Hostesse, when she did f-t, her 
ghests would cry S* Barbara when she lett oflf her Gun (ginne). 
They did ring y® .great Bell at Malmesbury-abbey (called S* 
Adelm's Bell) to drive away Thunder and Lightning. The like 
is yet used at y® Abbey of S*^ Germans, in Paris, where they 
ring the great Bell there.^ In Herefordshire, &c. : they lay a piece 
of Iron on the Barrell to keepe it from sowring.^ The like is don 
in Germany in laying steel upon or at it. 

Bride-cakes: and breaking the Cake over the head ofy* Bride. 

Flin. [Nat. Hist.] xyiii., 3. Qnin et in sacris nil religiosins confarreationis 
yincnlo erat: novaeq' nnptae farremn praeferebant. 

Confarreatio genus erat sacrifioii inter virum et uxorum, in 
signum firmissimae conjunctionis ; diffarreatio contra. 

When I was a little boy (before the Civill warres) I have seen 
(according to the custome then) the Bride and Bride-groome kisse 
over the Bride-cakes at the Table : it was about the later end of 
dinner: and y® cakes were layd one upon another, like the picture 
of the Sew-bread in y« old Bibles. The Bride-groome wayted all 
Dinner. 

> [See Appendix.] 

« [See MisceUanies, p. 141, and Nat. Hist. Wilts., p. 76.] 

» [« This is a common practice in Kent." Miscellanies, p. 140.] 



BElfAINS OF OSNTILISME AIO) JX7DAISME. 23 

So in Zerbst the Bridegroom waiteth all dinner time. 

At Basel in Helvetia, a kind of bread or cake is presented to 
the Bridegroome oomming out of Church at the doore of his 
house before he entres, the Man y* presenteth it, breaketh of a 
bit, which the Bridegroome receiveth and eateth it [W. BL] 

ScyaU-cahes. 

In Salop, &c. die oiujn Animarum (All-Soules-day Novemb. 
2d) there is sett on the Board a high heap of Sdule-cakes, lyeing 
one upon another like the picture of the Sew-Bread in the old 
Bibles. They are about the bignesse of 2^ cakes, and n'ly all 
the visitants that day take one ; and there is an old Rhythm or 
saying, 

A Soule-cake, a Sonle-cake, 

Haye mercy on all Christen sonles for a Sonle-cake. 

• 

This custome is continued to this time. This putts me in mind 
of the Feralia diet, k ferendis ad tumulum epulis: id quod forant 
[ferunt ?] tunc epulas ad sepulchrum quibus jus ibi parentare. 
Feralia deiun manium dies in Febr. Had Ovid continued his 
Fastorum to Novemb: in probabiliiy we should have found such 
a kind of custome used at that time sc. Novemb: 2^. 

Mdm. Seed-cakes, for the Ploughmen, after Sowing is donne; 
I thinke, All-Saints' night, or Eve. Also Cakes at Home-harvest. 

4 

Offertories at funeralls. 

These are mentioned in the Eubrick of y*^ ch. of Engl. Comon- 
Prayer-booke : but I never sawe it used, but once at Beaumaris, 
in Anglesey ; but it is used over all the Counties of North- Wales. 
But before when the corps is brought out of Doores, there is 
Cake & Cheese, and a new Bowie of Beere, and another of Milke 
with y® Anno Dni ingraved on it, & y® parties name deceased, 
w*^^ one accepts of on the other side of y® Corps ; & this Custome 
is used to this day, 1686, in North Wales,^ where a small tablet 
or board is fixt near the Altar, upon w*** the friends of y* defunct 
lay their offerings in mony according to their own ability and 
the quality of the person deceased. This custom proves a very 

' [From this to the end of the paragraph is added by Dr. Eennett. — Ed.] 



24 KEHAINS OF QENTILISHE AND JUBAISME. 

happy augmentation to some of the very poor vicars, and is often 
the best part of their maintenance. 

Sinne-eaters* 

It seems a remainder of this custom w*^^ lately obtained at 
Amersden, in the couniy of Oxford, where at the burial of every 
corps one cake and one flaggon of Ale just after the interrment 
were brought to the minister in the CL porch. W. K. 

0/ casting or dr awing Lots. 

Pro. 26, 33, the lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole. 
„ 18, 18, the lot causeth contention to cease. 

Mat. 27, 35, parted his garment casting lots. 

When I was a Boy in North Wilts (before y® Civill-warres) 
the mayd-servants were wont at night (after supper) to make 
smoothe, the Ashes on the Hearth, and then to make streakes on 
it with a stick ; such a streake signified privately to her that 
made it such an unmarried man, such a one such a mayd : the 
like for men. Then the men and the mayds were to choose 
by this kind of way, their Husbands and wifes : or by this 
divination to know whom they should marry. The maydes I 
remember were very fond of this kind of Magick, w** is clearly 
a Branch of Greomantie. Now the Rule of Geomantie is, that you 
are not to goe al)out your divination, but w*^ a great deale of 
seriousnes, and also prayers ; and to be performed in a very 
private place; or on the sea shore. 

See . . . . de Pisis or Oattan's Geomantie : who ajBSrme that the 
points being thus duly sett downe, it is sBquivalent to a Scheme 
sett to a Horary Question. 

This way of chusing valentines by making little fturrows in 
the Ashes and imposing such and such names on each line or 
furrow is practist in Kent and many other parts. W. K. 

In Germany at night before Christmas many sinfull things 
in some places are donn by young Maids, or Men. e. g. a mayd 
washeth her feet in a brazen bason, & afterwards throwes out 
the water, and placeth it in any place, and hearknes to it, by this 
she will know, what manner of Man the future huabTO^ wiU bee. 



BEMAINS OF 0ENTILI8MB AKD JUDAI8ME. 25 

when she heareth scribh'ng, she taketh it, that he will be a scholar^ 
or scrivener, if she heares sewing a Taylor, or Shoemaker &c. 
Some lay themselves backward at the oven, and hold their 
hand in it, to get an hair, if the hair is black or whithe, or of 
any other colour, such haires their Aitare husband will have. 
Yea, as some say, maids will keep a peece of meat at the first 
and three following Advent-Sundays, and at 12 a dok at night 
before Christmas doe lay the Table Cloth, and sett up the s^ meat, 
without laying on it any knif : then say. Here I sit and would 
fain eat, if my sweetheart would come and bring me a knif, 
where upon a ghost in shape of a man presenteth her with a 
knife, & such a one her future husband will bee. 

Another Bemainder of Geomancy to divine whether such a one 
will retume this night or no, is by the sheath of a knife, w^ one 
holds at y® great end with his two fore fingers, & sayes he 
comesy then slips downe his upper finger under his lover, & 
then the lower under that & sayes, he comes noty and sic 
deinceps till he is come to the bottome of his sheath, w®^ gives 
the Answer. Like unto this is that of Jonathan's shooting three 
arrowes, &c. : See Samuel, chap. xx. v. 17, which read to the end. 

So in Germany the S[c]hool boys practise, when the School- 
master stayes longer, than he useth to doe, they take a book and 
open it in the midst, at some part after the beginning or most at 
end, and then they begin with the first leaf of the book to say, 
he comes, with the second the schoolmaster comes not, with the 
third leaf again he comes, till they come to the last leaf, where 
they first opened the book, and thereby they believe he will 
come, or not at all. 

The magick of the Sive and Sheeres, (I thinke) is in Virgil's 
Ecglogues : The Sheers are stuck in a Sieve, and two maydens 
hold up y® sieve with the top of their fingers by the handle of 
the shiers : then say. By S* Peter & S^ Paule such a one hath 
stoln (such a thing), the others say, By S* Peter & S' Paul 
He hath not stoln it After many such Adjurations, the Sieve will 
tume at y® name of y® Thiefe. 

Also I remember, the mayds (especially the Cooke mayds & 
Dayrymayds) would stick-up in some chinkes of the joists or 
&c. : Midsommer-men, w«^ are slips of Orpins, they placed them 



26 REMAINS OF OENTILISUE AND JUDAISHE. 

by Paires, sc: one for such a man, the other for such a mayd 
his sweetheart, and accordingly as the Orpin did incline to, or 
recline from y* other, that there would be love, or aversion ; if 
either did wither, death. — [See Appendix.] 

So in Germany in the night before Christmas they take a 
trencher, and put upon it a little heap of salt, as big a walnut, 
more or lesse, for such and such a one, and for themselves too, and 
set it in a safe place, in the morning when they find the heap or 
heaps entire, all will live the following yeare, but if any or more 
are melted down a little, they take it y^ the same man or woman 
wiU dye, for wWch it was designed. 

[Owew».] 

When a Magpie chatters on a Tree by the house it declares 
the comeing of a stranger thither that night. So I have heard 
in Germany. 

** Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab nice comix." — ^Virgil.* 

So likewise a Thiefe in the Candle. 

If a Hare crosses ones way, they held it an unlucky Omen. 

To stumble at y® Threshold (in ipso limine) is an old saying 
& held ominous & unlucky, e. ^., in Master Hobarts Tale in 
Spencer, before the Fox stole the Kid. 

[Here follow the lines from Ovid Fast. lib. i. 178-80, already given at p. 8.] 

It was a Custome for some people that were more curious than 
ordinary, to sitt all night in the church porch of their Parish on 
midsomer-eve (i) S* John Baptist's eve ; and they should see the 
apparitions of those that should die in the parish that yeare 
come and knock at the dore : and still in many places on S^ 
Johns night they make Fires, (f ) Bonfires, on y® Hills, &c. : but 
the Civil warres comeing on have putt all these Rites, or cus- 
tomes quite out fashion. Warres doe not only extinguish Reli- 
gion & Lawes: but Superstition: & no suffimen is a greater 
fugator of Phantosmes, than gunpowder. 

* [This should run, ** Ante sinistra cava monnisset ab ilice comix." — ^Virg. 
£cl. ix. 16.— Ed.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 27 

When children did shalle ] tooth I ^^^ rubbed salt upon 
it, and then threw it into the fire (and also for the Teeth of 
old people). [See p. 10.] 

On S^ Stephens day the Farrier came constantly and blended 

all |q^j.[ Cart-horses, &c. So in Germany. Cramer. 

[Horseshoe and Witehes.l 

A Horse-shoe nailed on the threshold of y' dore is yet in 
fashion : and no where more than in London : it ought (Mr. 
Lilly sayes) to be a Horse-shoe that one finds by chance on the 
Boade. The end of it is to prevent the power of Witches, that 
come into yonr house, rf is S to H? sc to Witches. 

So in Germany y* common people doe naile snch an Horse- 
shoe on the Threshold of the doore. So neere the main-mast in 
ships [See Miscellanies, p. 140.] 

Mat Nayler was advised by the Wizard of Feversh. in Kent 
to leap three times over a small running streame, to prevent her 
being taken, when she escaped . out of prison. Something like 
this in Ovid's Fastor : 

manibiis pnrain flmninis hansit aqnam, 



Ter caput irrorat, ter tollit ad aethera palmas. 

Grid's Fastor. Ub. iv. [314-6.] 

& then she makes her imprecations. — [See p. 9.] 

[^Music at Meah,'\ 

In Wales, the Grentlemen have their Harpers, who play to them 
at Dinner & supper ; and so have the Lrish. 'Tis & old Cus- 
tome derived from the Trojans (Brute) who came hither, v. 
Tho : Walsingham de hoc, Ac, who sayes, that it was about y® 
time of y® Prophet Samuel ; he acquainted y® Pope, that upon 
a carefull search of ancient Becords he found that the Britons are 
descended from the Trojans about y® time of Samuel. Li like 
manner, Evander and also Hercules came out of Greece into 
Italie ; but the many Greeke words that remain in the British 
language (more than Latin from the Bomans being here) doe 



28 BEMAINS OF 0SMTILI8KB AND JUDAISME. 

sufBciently evidence that the Greekes had here Colonies or &c. 
Homer, in lora of his Odysseus (Ulysses), comends the use of 
musique at meales. 

Oif ydp lywye rl ^fffd rkXog xapie<rrepov eZvai 
4 ^av hf^poirvvti ftkv Ix"! i^^Ta Sij/iov dwavroy 
daiTVfiovis d* &vd S^fiar &KovaZ*>tVTat aoiimi 
Hfievoi c|eii}C) irapd ^i) xXtiOioin rpamZai 
diTOV Kal KptUhf. 

A receipt to cure a horse of being Hag-ridden. 

Take Bittersweet, and Holly, and twist them together, and hang 
it about the Horses neck like a Garland : it will certainly cure 
him. probat. 

In the West of England (& I beleeve, almost everywhere in 
this nation) the Carters, & Groomes, & Hostlers doe hang a flint 
(that has a hole in it) over horses that are hagge-ridden for a 
Preservative against it. — [See Miscellanies, p. 140.] 

Fairies. 

"YBari ^ kv fiifftru vv/i^ai xopbv SLpriZovro 
Hvft^ai dKoififiTOi^ Seival Oial dypoiioTai£. 

Theocritus, Idylliam xiii. [43-44.] 

Within, the nymphes, the ladies of y« plaines, 

The watchfoll nymphs that dance, k fright the swains. 

[Signs of Lying."] 

'Ey(i» ^1 <n rbv %aX6v (dvB&v 
freitBta pivbg ^irepOev dpaiiig ovk iva^vtria, 

Theocrit., Idyllinm xii. [23-24.] 

Tell-tale blisters rise, and gall thy tongue. 

This was doctrine when I was a little boy [and is so now. — Ed.] 

[Prayers to Saints."] 

From my old cosen Ambrose Brown [of Winterbome-Basset] 

Old Symon Brunsdon of Winterbome Basset, in Wilts : he 
had been parish-darke there tpe. Mariae Beginae. The Tutelar 
Saint of that Church is Saint Katharine; he lived downe till the 



BBMAINS OF GENTILISHS AND JUDAISMS. 29 

beginning of King James the first : when the Qad-flje had hap- 
pened to sting his Oxen, or Cowes, and made them to mn-away 
in that Champagne-conntrey, he wonld ran after them, crying 
out. Praying, Grood Saint Katharine of Winterborne stay my 
oxen, Good S^ E^atharine of Winterborne stay my Oxen, &c. 
This old Bronsdon was wont in the snmmer-time to leave his 
Oxen in the field, and goe to the church to pray to Saint Katha- 
rine. By that time he came back to his oxen perhaps the Gadfly 
might drive them away, upon such an occasion he would cry 
out to St. Kath. as is already here sayd. We must not imagine, 
that he was the only man that did so heretofore; and the 
like Invocations were to other Saints and Martyrs, e. g. at 
S* Oswald's-Downe and Forde-downe, &c. thereabout the 
Shepherds prayd at night & at morning to S^ Oswald (that was 
martyred there) to preserve their Sheepe safe in the fi^ld. S^ 
Oswald was slayne by Penda on the great downe east of 
Marsfield in Glocestershire as you ride to Gastlecombe firom 
whence it is called S^ Oswald's-downe : in these parts, nay as 
far as Auburne-chase (and perhaps a great deale fbrther) when 
they pent their 1»heep in y* Fold, they did pray to God & S' 
Oswald to bring the sheep safe to y® Fold : and in the morning, 
they did pray to Grod & Saint Oswald, to bring their sheep safe 
from y« Fold. The countrey folk call St. Oswald St Twosole. 

In those dayes, when they went to bed, they did rake up their 
fire and make a ^ in the Ashes, and pray to Grod and Saint 
Sythe (t) St. Osythe to deliver them from fire, and from water 
and from all misadventure. 

When the bread was putt into the Oven, they prayed to God 
& Saint Stephen, to send them a just Batch and an even. 

\_Favries.'\ 

They were wont to please the Fairies, that they might doe them 
no shrewd turaes, by sweeping clean the Hearth and setting 

by it a dish of fair w' [water] halfe sadd bread 

wheron was set a messe of milke sopt with white bread. And 
on the morrow they should find a groate of w*^ the .... 
if they did speak of it they never had any again. That they 



30 &BMAINS 01" OBNTIUBICE AND JUDAISMl:. 

would chome the creame &c. M™ H., of Hereford had as 
many groates, or 3^ this way as made a little silver cup or bowl, 
of (I thinke) S^^ value, w^ her daughter preserves still. 

That the Fairies would steale away young children and putt 
others in their places ; verily believed by old woemen of those 
dayes : and by some yet living. 

Some were led away by the Fairies, as was a Hind riding upon 
Hakpen with come, led a dance to y® Devises. So was a shep- 
herd of Mr. Brown, of Winterbum-Basset : but never any 
afterwards enjoy themselves. He sayd that y* ground opened, 
and he was brought into strange places underground, where 
they used musicall Instruments, violls, and Lutes, such (he sayd) 
as Mr. Thomas did play on. 

And in Germany old women tell the like stories received 
from their Ancestors, that a Water-monster, called the Nickard, 
does enter by night the chamber, where a woman is brought to 
bed, and stealeth when they are all sleeping, the the new-bom 
child and supposeth another in its place, which child growing up is 
like a monster and commonly dumb. The remedy whereof that 
the Mother may get her own child again. Thb mother taketh 
the Supposititium, and whipps it so long with the rod till the saied 
monster, the Nickard bringes the Mothers own child again & 
takes to himself the Supposititium which they call Wexel balg. 

\_Funeral CiLstoms,'] 

From Mr. Mawtese, in whose father's youth, sc about 60 
years since (now 1686), at country vulgar Funeralls was sung 
this song* 

At the ftmeralls in Yorkeshire, to this day, they continue the 
custotne of watching & sitting-up all night till the body is 
interred. In the interim some kneel downe and pray (by the 
corps), some play at cards, some drink & take Tobacco : they 
have also Mimicall playes and sports, e. ^., they choose a simple 
young fellow to be a Judge, then the Suppliants (having first 
blacked their hands by rubbing it under the bottome of the 
Pott), beseech his Lop: [Lordship] and smutt all his face. They 
play likewise at Hott-cockles. 



BEMAINS OF GENTILtSMB AKD JUDAISME. 3l 

' Ease aliqnid maneB, et snbterruiea regna, 
£t cantnm, et Slygio ranas in gorgite nigras, 
Atqne una tranaire yadnm tot millia cymbA. 

JuTemd, Satyr IL [149—1 51] . 

The beliefe in Torkeshire was amongst the vulgar (phaps is 
in part still), that after the persons death the soule went over 

Whinny-moore,^ and till about ] 1/504 ( ** ^® Funerall a woman 
came (like a Praefica) and sang the following song : — 

Thia ean night, this ean night, 

eTeiy night and awle: 
fire and Fleet* and Candle-light 

and Christ reciere thy Sawle. 

When thon from hence doest pass away 

eyery night and awle 
To Whinny-moor * thon comest at last 

and Christ recieye thy silly poor sawle. 

If eyer thon gaye either hosen or shun' 

eyery night and awle 
Sitt thee downe and putt them on 

and Christ redeye thy sawle. 

But if hosen nor shoon thon never gaye nean * 

every night, &c: 
The Whinnes shall prick thee to the hare heane 

and Christ recieye thy sawle. 

From Whinny-moor that Hion mayst pass 

eyery night &c: 
To Brig o' Dread thon comest at last 

and Christ &c: 

From Brig of Dread that thon mayest pass 

no brader than a thread 

eyeiy night &c: 
To Fnrgatory fiie thon com'st at last 

and Christ &c: 



• Whin is a furze. * Water. 
' sc. There will be hosen and shoon for them. 

* Job, cap. xxxi. 19. If I have seen any perish for want of cloathing or any 

poor withont covering. 
„ 20. If his loyns have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed 

with the fleece of my sheep, tec. 



32 REMAINS OF OENTIUSMB AND JXTDAISME. 

If erer thou gave either Milke or drinke 

ererj night &c: 
The fire shall neyer make thee shrink 

and Christ &c: 

But if milk nor drink thon neyer gave nean 

eyery night &c : 
The Fire shall bum thee to the bare bene 

and Christ reciye thy Sawle.* 

Omens. 

The casual! falling of the salt at y^ table towards one is 
by many (perhaps most) observed to be an ill omen to this 
day. — [See " Miscellanies," pp. 38-48, for a chapter on Omens.] 

Amulets. 

Fascinum: ponitur pro veretro (obscoena viri parte). Fascinus 
vel fascinum veretrum diet, quod depelleret fascinationes itaq' 
pro amuleto e collo pueris suspendebatur. — ^Varro ad Scaligeri. 

Mdm. In the digging of the Buines & foundations of London 
(after the great Conflagration) there were found severall little 
Priapusses of Copper about an inch long, w^^ the Bomans did 
weare about their necks, for the reason above alleged. Elias 
Ashmole Esq. hath some of them amongst his x^^M^''^ 

• 

Fontanalia (^ Fontinalia) Fest. 

A fonte, quod is dies feriae ejus, ab eo autem tarn et in fontes 
coronas jaciunt & pueros coronant. 

The Fellows of New-college in Oxford have time out of mind 
every Holy-thursday betwixt the houres of eight and nine gonne 
to y® Hospitall called Bart'lemews neer Oxford : where they 
retire into jr® chapell, and certain prayers are read and an 
Antheme sung: from thence they goe to the upper end of y® • 
grove adjoyning to the chapell (the way being beforehand strewed 
with flowers by the poor people of y* Hospitall), they place them- 
selves round about the Well there, where they warble forth 
melodiously a Song of three or 4, or 5 parts ; which being per- 

* [See Appendix.] 



some 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMS AND JUOAISHE. 33 

formed, they refresh themselves with a mornings-draught there, 
and retire to Oxford before Sermon. A. Wood. 

Solemn Feasts abovt Wells.^ ForUium Sacra. 

This Costome is yearly observed at Droit- Wich in Worcester- 
shire, where on the day of St Richard the | p ^ | of 

y® Well (i. e.) salt-well, they keepe Holyday, dresse the well 
with green Boughes and flowers. One yeare sc. A° 64, in 
the Presbyterian times it was discontinued in the Civil-warres ; 

and after that the spring {^^J^^p j or dried up for 

time. So afterwards they j ^^. j their annuall oustome (not- 
withstanding the power of y® JParliament and soldiers), and the 
salt-water returned again and still continues. This St. Richard 
was a person of great estate in these parts, and a briske young 
fellow that would ride over hedge and ditch, and at length became 
a very devout man, and after his decease was canonized for a 
Saint. See his life in an old printed booke in folio, iny® Librarie 
of Westminster Abbey. 

Ad Fontem Bandnsinm. 
Sacrificia fonti promittit, ejnsq' amoenitate smnmopere comendat. 

O fons Bandnsiae, splendidior vitro, 
Dnlci digne mero, non sine floribos, 
Cras donaberis hsedo 
Gai frons tnrgida comibns 
Primis et Yeuerem et praelia destmat, 
Fmstr^; nam gelidos inficiet tibi 
Bnbro sangnme riyos 
Lasciyi soboles gregis. 
Te flagrantis atrox hora Canicnl® 
Nescit tangere ; ta frigns amabile 
Fessis yomere tanris 
Frsebes, et pecori vago. 
Fies nobilinm tn qaoqne f ontiam 
Me dicente, cayls impositam ilicem 
Saxis, nnde loqnaces 
Ljmphffi desilinnt tnsB. 

Horat. Lib. m. Ode xui. 



[See Appendix.] 
D 



34 BEMAINS OF GEKTILISME AlH) JUDAISKE. 

In Processions, thej used to read a Ghospell at the springs to 
blesse them, w^ hath been dis-continued at Smmj-well in Bark- 
shire, but since 1688. 

Near St. Clements at Oxford, was a spring (stopt up since 
the warres) where St. Edmund (A-B. [Archbishop] Cant J did 
sometimes meet & converse with an Angel or Njrmph: as Numa 
Pompilius did with Egeria. See Anth. Woods booke of this. 

A prayer used when they went to Bed, 

Mattihew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
Bless the Bed that I lye on. 
And blessed Guardian- Angel keep 
Me safe from danger whilst I sleep. 

I remember before y* civill warres, ancient people when they 
heard the clock strike, were wont to say, " Lord grant, that my 
last howre may be my best howre." 

They had some pious ejaculation too, when the Cock did crow 
w*^** did putt them in mind of y* Trumpet at y® Resurrection. 

« 

Home Harvests. 

Festum primitiarum is Lamas. 

Home Harvests are observed (more or lesse) in most Counties 
of England, e.g. South-Wilts, Heref. &c: when they bring home 
the last load of Corne ; it is donne with great joy and merri- 
ment : and a Fidler rides on the loaded Cart, or Wayne, playing : 
a Barrell of good Beer is provided for the Harvestmen, and some 
good Rustique cheer. This Custome (no doubt) is handed downe 
to us &om the Romans : who after this manner celebrated their 
Cerealia (Sacra Cereris) instituted by Triptolemus. 

Sheep'sheerings, 

Sheep-sheerings, on the Downes in Wiltshire, and Hampshire 
&c: are kept with good Cheer, and strong beer : but (amongst 
other dishes) Furmetrie is one. The Fidler and Tabourer 
attended this Feaste* 

The Romans had their Palilia vel Parilia, Palis Deae (Pas-^* 
torum) festa. 



BEMAlNS O^ OBXmtJSME AND ADAISlUB. 35 

Cockfightmg at Shrovetide* 

.^EHianns in his varia Historia speakes of Cock-fighting in his 
time, Kb. ii; cap. 28. After their victorie over the Persians, 
the Athenians made a lawe, that Cocks should one day in the 
yeare be brought to fight in the Theatre, the occasion of which 
lawe was this. When Themistodes went forth with an Army of 
y^ Citizens against the Barbarians, he saw some Cocks fighting, 
neither did he behold it slightly, but turning to the whole Army, 
These (sayd he) undertake this danger ^^ neither for their Coun- 
trey, nor for their Countrey Gh)ds, nor for the Monuments of 
their Ancestors, nor for Fame, Liberty, or Children ; but that 
they may not be worsted, or yield one to the other." With 
which words he encouraged the Athenians. This therefore, as 
that time was an occasion of inciting them to valour, he would 
have to be ever after had in remembrance. 

Sinne-'eaters. [See pp. 18, 22.] 
In the County of Hereford was an old Custome at ftmeralls to 
Ih ^1 P^^^ people, who were to take upon them all the sinnes of 

the party deceased. One of them I remember lived iu a cottage 
on Bosse-high way. (He was a long, leane, ugly, lamentable poor 
raskal.) The manner was that when the Corps was brought out 
of the house and layd on the Biere ; a Loafe of bread was brought 
out, and delivered to the Sinne-eater over the corps, as also a 
Mazar-bowle of maple (Gossips bowle) full of beer, w*^^ he was to 
drinke up, and sixpence in money, in consideration whereof he 
tooke upon him (ipso facto) all the Sinnes of the Deftmct, and 
freed him (or her) from walking after they were dead. This cus- 
tome alludes (methinkes) something to the Scape-goate in y® old 
Lawe. Leviticus, cap. xvi. verse 21, 22. "And Aaron shall lay 
both his hands on the head of the live goate and confesse over 
him all y* iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their trans- 
gressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the 
goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fitt man into 
the wildemesse. And the goat shall bear upon him all their 
iniquities, unto a land not inhabited : and he shall let the goat 

d2 



36 REMAINS OF OENTILISME AND JUDAISHE. 

goe into the wildemesse." This Gostome (though rarely used in 

our dajes) yet by some people was j t'nuedl ®^®^ ^ ^^ 
strictest time of y® Presbyterian goverment: as at Dynder, 

relations I ^^ a woman 
deceased there had this ceremonie punctually performed according 
to her Will : and also the like was donne at y* City of Hereford 
in these times, when a woman kept many yeares before her 
death a Mazard-bowle for the Sinne-eater ; and the like in other 
places in this Countie ; as also in Brecon, e, g. at Llangors, 
where Mr. Gwin the minister about 1640 could no hinder y* 
performing of this ancient custome. I believe this custome was 
heretofore used over all Wales. 

See Juvenal Satyr, vi. [519-521,] where he speakes of 
throwing purple thread into y® river to carry away ones sinne. 

In North- Wales, the Sinne-eaters are frequently made use of; 
but there, insted of a Bowie of Beere, they have a bowle of 
Milke. 

Methinkes, Doles to Poore people with money at Funeralls have 
some resemblance of that of y® Sinne-eater. Doles at Fimeralls 
were continued at Gentlemens funeralls in the West of England 
till the Civil- warre. And so in Germany at rich mens funerals 
Doles are in use, and to every one a quart of strong and good 
Beer. — Cramer. 

New Moone} 

Coelo snpinas si tnleris manns 
Nascente Luna, rnstica Phidyle: &c. 

Horat. lib. iii. Ode xxiii. 

In. Scotland (especially among the Highlanders) the woemen 
doe make a Curtsey to the New-moon ; I have known one in 
England doe it, and our English woemen in the Country doe 
retaine (some of them) a touch of this Gentilisme still, e. g. 

"All haile to thee Moon, all haile to thee I 

I prithee good Moon, declare to me, 
This night, who my Hnsband mnst he." 

This they doe sitting astride on a gate or stile the first evening 

* [See Miscellanies, p. 132.] 



— W IK —»»^M 



REMAINS OF UENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 37 

the new moon appeares. In Herefordshire &c. the vulgar people 
at the prime of the moon, say, 'tis a fine moon, God bless her. 

y. Job, cap. 31, y. 26, 27. If I beheld the son when it shined, 
or the moon walking in brightness. 

And my heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath 
kissed my hand. 

Sound a trumpet in the new-moon. — Fsalme [Ixxxi. 3]. 

When I was a Boy before y* Civill warres 'twas the fashion to 
to kisse ones hand, and make a legge. 

Tot pariter peWes, tot tintinnabnla clicas 
Pnlsari, &c. — Jnyenal, Satyr, [yi. 441-2.] 

" The wild Irish, or Welch, who during Eclipses run about 
beating &c. pans thinking their clamour & vexations availeable 
to the assistance of the higher orbes." — Osbom's Advice, p. 105. 

Howselin receiving r aacrament in the explanation of the 
hard words to Chaucer. 

To Husle — a Saxon word. — T.G. 

PttMing-off of Hatta. 

Helmet pulled off when spoke to Alexander. Q. Curtius in 
Engl. p. 402. [Quem (coenum) ut videre milities detrahentem 
galeam capiti (ita enim regem alloqui mos est), &c. Q. Curtii 
Rufii lib. ix. cap. iii. 4.] 

Persius, Sat. v. 85 [82] : 

'< Haec mera Libertas; hoc nobis pilea donant." 

Servi manu emissi raso capite a Dominis pileum libertatis 
insigne sumebant — T. Farnaby. 

« Vindicta postqnam mens a Fraetore recessi." — [Pers. Sat. v. 88.] 

The cropping short of y® Apprentices haire, seemes to be 
derived from the slavery of the Romans : now out of Fashion. 

Eeliquum h poculo ejedt 

Perhaps the Custome of the Beggars, throwing the remainder 
of drinke out of the Dish on the Ground, may be derived from an 
Eihnick sacrifice to Tellus (the Earth), Gratitudinis ergd. 






38 REMAINS OF GSKTILISMIB AND JUDAISMS. 

David longing to drinke of y* water of y* well by y« gate of 
Bethelem, when three of his worthies brought it, he would not 
tast a drop of it : in condemnation of his inordinate appetite, 
which had exposed such worthy persons to hazard their lives, 
poured it out unto the Lord, — [II.] Sam. xxiii. 15, 16. 

[^Serpents."] 
A. Persii, Sat i. 113. 

Finge duos angaes: paeri, sacer est locos; extra 
Meiite. 

Ut nefas ducitur in sacro loco alvmn exonerare vel meire, 
ejusq' religionis symbolum appinguntur angues tamquam Genu 
Loci, et quo inde terreant et submoveant pueros. — ^Tho. Farnaby. 
Mdm. in a book w^*^ Mr. Jo. Heysig (a Swede) gave to Elias 
Ashmole, Esq. entituled Olai Vereli Manuductio compendiosa 
ad linguam Scandicam antiquam, rect^ intelligendam : Upsalas 
1675 (a thin folio), all the ancient Inscriptions are entertoilees 
with Snakes, e.ff.Bsin the margent. 

Mdm. in Saint Chad's Ghospell at Lich- 
field Gathedrall (w*^ is a thousand yeares 
old), the Latin is writt in the Saxon cha- 
[Here are two racter, and the letters are an inch lonff, at 

ngnres of serpents , a i i • • 

interlaced.] least At the beginning of every Ghospell, 

is the picture of the Evangelist sitting in a 

chaire, and the armes of the chaires of every 

one doe terminate in Serpents heads. 

Quaere whether there are not Serpents carved upon some very 

old Fonts, Church-dbres, or about the Capitalls of old Gothick 

pillars ? I have a conceit that I have seen some such thing. 

The Caducous of Mercurie is adorned with two Serpents in the 
posture of Generation. Mdm. y® cast skin of an Addar {(rv<f>apy 
Anglic^, the slough of an Addar) is an excellent remedie to drawe 
out a Thorne, out of ones flesh. The Sussexians doe weare them 
for Hatt-bands, w*^^ they say doe preserve them from the gripeing 
of the GutiB.^ 

^ [They are worn round the head in North 'Lincolnshire against headache* 
N and Q. 1st s. viii. 82.— Ed.] 



BEMAINS OF 6ENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 39 

Vide Spondam Epitomen Baronii Annaliam — where he speakes 
de Basidilianisy that did keep Sacrifices for Christy as well as 
Jewish — and they had serpents that were fed with the blond of 
the Sacrifices. Vincentins Lerinensis adversns Haereticos also 
saieth the same. The Bramens have also serpents in great 
veneration : they keep their Come. I thinke it is Tavemier, that 
mentions it. 

[A note upon horse-shoes and witches, a repetition of that 
given on p. 25 is given here in the MS.] 

It is not unlikely, that the Torsures in the initiall great Text 
letters of Patents, Wills, Indentures, &c.: such kind of sacred 
writing were derived firom the Torsures of snakes, anciently. 

I have seen initiall Text letters of K. Hen. 8^ that have been 
perfectly interwoven Knotts. 

I have seen some old Text letters terminate in Serpents: these 
text letters (as here) were left off about the Rd^tauration of his 
Majestic: and printed ones used instead, w**' the Kings picture 
in them. 

Q. Ceres drawne by Serpents. Dr. Burnet for Scotish 
Gentilisme, especially amongst y® Highlanders. 



In nomine Deiy Amen. 

We doe beginne our Wills thus and in text letters ; but the 
torsures of the initial letter (as also of Indentures) hath been 
much discontinued since A.D. 1660. In Herefordshire, &c., those 
parts, when they undertake any businesse or are to lift up a 
Burden, they say, in the name of God (i) in the power of God. 

Weisembachius Disputatio i. p. 1. 

" Exorsns est Jnstmianns ab inyocatione (qnamyis Codex Haloandrinns non 
habet banc epigrapben) Domini nostri Jesn Giiristi. Pie et religiose. Gen. 
xlviii. V. 16, nbi Jacob inrocat Angelum Foederis, Christnm. Malach. iii. v. 1. 
Fsal. ii. y. 12, and Ixxxiv. t. 10. Qnare Fontifex non ita anspicatiur Jus Canon- 
icmn, Bainaldns Ck)r8ns sed adf ert rationes. Lib. 3, indag. jnr. c. 15. 'Ec tov jcpa- 
vidov t6 ^^>afffia vpoSriXov. X^x lacinia cognoBcitnr ponnns. £x prima igitor 
ratione, qnam reddit, de cssteris jndicare promptom est. Non erat necesse, inqnit, 
Fontificem declarare se esse Christlannm, perinde ac Imperatorem. Eo enim 
ipso, qnod dicit se Episcopnm, affirmat se esse Cbristiannm, c. 1 & 2 distinc. ij. 
Com mnlti imperatores a Christi lege fnerint alieni." 



40 REMAINS OF GENTIUSME AND JUDAISMS. 

The Athenian Mercury, Vol. 6, Numb. 5, Feb. 15, 169^. 

The ancients had a solemne time of giving these names— equivalent to onr 
Christnings, and those taken yery probably from the Custom of Circnmcision 
among the Jews, recieved also by severall other nations. Thns we find in Alex- 
ander ab Alex, diebns, Grenial. Varro, and others, that 'twas the custom among aU 
ciyiliz'd nations to give the Name on a certain day, the seyenth, eighth, ninth, or 
tenth, according to the manner of the place, and that this was always performed 
with great solemnity, and among the Greeks with Feasts and Sacrifices. 

Homes and Cuckolda. 

Pufendorf, Lib. yi. c. i. § 10. 

ejusmodi maritorum insignia quie yulgo p' ludibriis jactantur, noya 

non esse neq' solis occidentalibns usurpata, adparet ex Nioeta Acominato 1. 2, 
de imperatore nbi ref art ilium Imperatorem eximia comua ceryorum, quos yenatus 
erat, in porticibus fori suspendiese p' speciem ostentande magnitudinis feraru* 
quos exposuit cum reyera mores ciyitatis uxorum lasciyia notaret. 

Rings wome on the Left Hand. 

S. Pufendorf de Jure Naturas et Gratiss; in Bosario Fersico Sardi, c. 8. 
Haec ratio affertur, quia sinistra manus, dextra utiq' minus digna annulo 
exomatur; quia dextrae manus summum decus ipsa dexteritas. p. 611. 

[West of England Customs.'] • 

Mdm. that non obstante the Change of Beligion, the Plough- 
boies, and also the Schooleboies will keep-up and retaine their old 
Ceremonies and Customes and priviledges, which in the west of 
England is used still (and I believe) in other parts. So in 

Somersetshire when they Wassaile (which is on 

I thinke Twelfe-eve) the Plough-men have their Twelve-cake, 
and they goe into the Ox-house to the oxen, with the Wassell- 
bowle and drink to the ox w. the crumpled home that treads 
out the corne ; they have^n old conceived Rythme ; and after- 
wards they goe with their Wassel-bowle into the orchard and 
goe about the Trees to blesse them, and putt a piece of Tost 
upon the Rootes, in order to it. 

And the Schoole-boies in the west: still religiously observe S* 
Nicholas day (Decemb. 6*^), he was the Patron of the Schoole- 
boies. At Curry- Yeovill in Somersetshire, where there is a 
Howsehole (or schole) in the Church, they have annually at 



BEICAINS OF QENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 41 

that time a Barrell of good Ale brought into the church ; and 
that night they have the priviledge to breake open their Masters 
Cellar- dore. 

Item, for Cock-fighting, the Schoole-boies continue that 
Custome still : and have their Victors, that is, he whose Cock 
conquers or beates the rest, is Victor, and eo nomine, he hath 
the Priviledge, during that Lent, to save what Boy he pleases 
from Whipping. 

On Shrove Tuesday shroving when the Victor Boy went thrd 
y® streetes in triumph deckd with ribbons, all his schoole fellowes 
following with drum and a fiddle to a Feast at their Masters 
schoole house. The custome (I thinke) now left of. He was 
victor whose cock over come. Item, Sapientia (Decemb. 16) 
is a great day observed by the Schoole-boies ; and (I thinke) 
was before the Civil-warres by the Undergraduates at Oxford : 
if not likewise by the Bachelors of Art. 

QusBre Colonel John Wyndham plus de hiis; he went to 
schoole at Curry-yeovill. * 

In my fathers time, they had a Clubbe (Aistis) at the schoole- 
dore : and they desired leave exeundi foris (two went together 
still) they carried the Clubbe. I have heard that this was used 
in my time in Country-schooles before the Warres. When 
Monks or Fryars goe out of their Convent, they always are 
licensed by couples ; to be witnesses of one anothers actions or 
behaviour. We use, now, the word Clubbe, for a Sodality at 
a Taverne or Drinking-house. 

KoiTKivofmvZ^lcL Pollux divinationis genns quod fit per cribrnm. ex Calepino. 
▼ide. — Delvio disq. Mag. Holyok's Diet. 

Love-feasts. 

Agapae Aydirae, convivium Christianorum TertuU. Apol. 29. 
coena nostra de noie rationem suam ostendit, vocatur arforrTjy id q^ 
dilectio penes GrsBCos est. v. i. Cor. 11-20 & Photium et Bal- 
samonem ad Canon ii. Concilii Qangaensis et Causab. exerc. 16, 
contra Bacon. Numb. 31 et Canonem 28 Concilii Laodiceni ubi 
sunt prohibitae. Mart. Certain love-feasts used in the Primitive 
Church, where all the Congregation met and feasted, after they 



42 REKAINS OF GENTILI8MB AND JUDAISMS. 

had recieved the Commimion together : and those that were 
rich brought for themselves and the poor, and all eate together, 
for the encrease of mutuall love, and for the rich to shew their 
love & charity to the poor.* 

Feralia a ferendis ad tamulom epulis, a feriendis pecudibus, 
Fest. vetcvaia. Feralia doom maninm dies in Februario apud 
Bom. Yer. Feralia ab inferis et ferendo, q. d. fermit tmn epulas 
ad sepulchmm quibus jus ibi parentare, Fest feralia diis 
manibus sacrata, festas & inde ferales Amestum. All Souls Day, 
a day dedicated to God for the dead. — [See p. 21.] 



lS^itile.—8ee p, 80.] 
A Perm Satyra ii. v. 30. 

Ecce avia, ant metaens diyum matertera cunis 
Exemit pnemm, frontemq' atq' nda labella 
> Infami digito, et liistralilmg ante salivis 

JSsopiat, nrentes ocnlos inhibere perita. 

Tho: Farnaby. Pulchra est hsBC diei lustrici hypotyposis qui 
puellarum octavus est, puerorum nonus, quo die puerum lustra- 
bant, votis pro eo conceptis, et nomine iUi indito, undo et 
Nominalis dictus. Saliva purgatoriam vim habere credebatur, 
et ad fascina inhibenda valere. BonsB vero scaevae causa et ad 
placandam Nemesim, quam enormiori gloriaB invidere credebant, 
saliva, infamis digitus rfp; a-dOrj^y effigies adhibebantur quasi 
praefiscinia. Plin. lib.. 28, c. 2 & 4. 

The wild Irish (among many old customes) doe use this, sc. 
when they doe prayse your horse, or &c. they doe spitt upon it ; 
sc. praefiscine. Hence Mr. Sam. Butler, in his Hudibras, part 
[i.], canto [i.]: 

A deep Occnlt Philosopher, 
As leam'd as the Wild Irish are. 

The Christian form of Christning children, is much derived 
from the aforementioned custome. 

^ [See Miscellanies, p. 217.] 



REMAINS OF GSMTILI8MS AND JUDAISMK. 43 

[The reference here is to the Order for the Baptism of Infants 
in the ^^Ritoale Bomannm." ^^Sacerdos digito aocipiat de 
saliva oris sui, et tangat anres et nares in&ntis: tangendo vero 
aurem dexteram, et sinistram, dicat: ^Ephpheta, qnod est, 
adaperire:' deinde tangit nares, dicens: ^In odorem snavitatis. 
tu antem efihgare, diabole; appropinqnabit enim jadicium Dei.' " 
The origin of this custom will be found in S. Mark, vii. 32-35. — 
Ed.] 

[Amulet8. 

Here follows almost verbally the passage given at p. 30 under 

this heading. — ^Ed.] # 

Girdles. 

In St. John's [Luke's] Ghospel, cL [xii.] v. [35] it is sajd, 
" Let your loynes be girt" It was accounted before y* civill 
warres a very undecent and dissolute thing for a man to goe 
without his Girdle in so much that 'twas a Proverbe, ^^Ungirt 
and unbless't." Biobanus, in his Anatomic of the Vertebra, 
quotes the aforesayd Text: and saies, that that part imgirt 
inclines men to be libidinous. — [See p. 60.] 

Out of jf Fewdal law. Homage is an oath of fealtie, 
acknowledging himself to be the Lord's man, wherein the tenant 
must be ungirtj uncovered, kneel upon both his knees, &c. — 
Littleton Tenure. 

Cocklebread} 

Young wenches have a wanton sport, w** they call moulding 
of Cocklebread ; viz. they gett upon a Table-board, and then 
gather-up their knees & their coates with their hands as high 
as they can, and then they wabble to and &o with their Buttocks 
as if the[y] were kneading of Dowgh with their A — , and say 
these words, viz. : 

My Dame is sick Sc gomie to bed, 
And I'le go mowld mj cockle-bread. 



> [See Appendix.J 



44 REMAINS OF GBNTILISMB AND JUDAISMS. 

In Oxfordshire the maids, when they have put themselves 
into the fit posture, saj thus : 

My granny is sick, and now is dead, 

And wee'l goe monld some cockle-bread. 

Up w"* my heels, and down w*** my head, 

And this is the way to monld cocklebread. — [W. E.] 

I did imagine nothing to have been in this but meer Wanton- 
nesse of Youth — rigidas prurigine vulvae. Juven. Sat 6 [129.] 
But I find in Burchardus,^ in his Methodus Confitendi on the 
VII. Comandement, one of y® articles of interrogating a young 
Woman is, if she did ever subigere panem clunibus, and then 
bake it, and give it to one that she loved i0 eate : ut in majorem 
modum exardesceret amor ? So here I find it to be a relique of 
Naturall Magick, an unlawiull Philtrum. 

'Tis a poeticall expression, to kisse like cockles : 

'* The Sea nymphes that see ns shall envy onr bliss, 
Wee'll teach them to love, and ] .r^^ | Cockles to kiss." 

An old filthy Bhythme used by base people, viz. : 

" When I was a yonng Maid, and wash't my Mothers Dishes, 
I putt my finger in my [ — ] and plnck't-ont little Fishes." 

See Burchardus, ut ante, where there is an interrogatory if 

she did ever put a little fish [ ] (immittere pisci- 

culos in vulvam) and let it die there, and then fry it, and give it 
to her lover to eate, ut in majorem modum exardesceret amor ? 
The L* Chancellor Bacon sayes : Thus the fables of the Poets are 
the Mysteries of the Philosophers ; and I allude here, that (out 
of fulsome Bibaldrie these simple Rhythmes I have picked out) 
the profoundest natural Magick, that ever I met with in all my 
life. 

The young girls in and about Oxford have a sport calld Leap- 
candle, for which they set a candle in the middle of the room 
in a candlestick, and then draw up their coates into the form of 

* " Qnis yetemm Poetarmn pins obscoenitatis, impnritatis, flagitiom' professns 
est, qnam docet Foenitentiale Bnrchardi? J. B. in confnt. fab. Bordon. pag. 
305 " Dr. Sanderson, Vol. n^ Serm. 2^ ad Anlam, pag. 45. 



BEMAINS OF GEKTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 45 

breeches, and dance over the candle back and forth, with these 
words: 

The Taylor of Bisiter, he has but one eye, 

He cannot cut a pair of green Galagaskins if he were to die. 

This sport in other parts is called Dancing the candlerash. 
Terent. Adelph. act v. seen. iv. [1—4]: 

D. Nnnqnam it^ qaisqnam bene anbdnctft ratione ad vitam fnit, 
Quin res, aetas,* nans, semper aliqnid apportet novi, 
Aliqnid moneat: nt ilia, qnsB te scire credas, nescias, 
£t quae tibi pntaris prima, in experinndo [at] repudies. 

in Olymp. Discipulus est prioris posterior dies Farnaby. 

Shepherds. 

In the West*parts of England (and I believe also in other 
parts) the Shepherds have no Wages but the keeping of so many 
sheepe of his owne with his masters flock : so that the Shep- 
herds Lambs never die, or mis-carrie : or his sheep stollen. 
Flautus gives ns a hint of this Custome among the Bomans in 
his Asinariae, act iii. sc. 1 [36-7]. 

Fhilenimn (Meretrix). 

*< Etiam opilio qui pascit, mater, alienas oves, 

Aliqnam habet pecnliarem, qui spem soletur snam." 

Nota peculiaris (e peculio) is the marke of the Opilio's sheep : 
the Master (or Patron) had another mark. Dr. Potts. 

Plautus lived 184 yeares before Christ : " La mort de Plaate, 
selon la meilleure opinion, sous les Consuls P. Claudius Pulclier 
et L. Porcius Licinius, sc. 184 ans devant Jesus Christ" 

Revelhy or Wakes. 

Concerning the origen of Wakes, Venerable Bede speakes in 
his Historic. See 1 Kings, ch. 8, v. 62, &c., and v. 65, " And 
at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, seven 
and seven dayes, even fourteen dayes." So 2 Chron. ch. 7, v. 
5, & 8, 9, and Nehemiah, c. 8, v. 10, 11, 12. In the exposi- 

1 Considerata recte yiyendi via translata a Calcnlatoribns. 

*AfJikpcu kviXotiroi fidpKvpes (ro^ctf^^a^^ot.^-Pindar. 



I 



46 REMAINS OF GENTILISHS AND JUDAISHIE. 

tion of hard words in Chaucer, in the word Yigills. ^^ It was 
the manner in times past, upon Festival evens, for Parishioners to 
meet in their Chnrch-houses, or Church-yards, and there to have 
a drinking fitt for the time. Here they used to end many 
quarells between neighbour and neighbour. Hither came the 
Wives in comely manner, and they that were of the better sort 
had their Mantles carried with them, as well for shew, as to keep 
them from cold at the table. These Mantles also many did use 
at Morrowe-masses, and other times." 

As also all the Joumemen of every handycraft in the same 
week doe nothing but drink and are merry, goi^g in Procession 
two abreast into the fields (where then tradesman's daughters 
and Maid8 are not very for off, which they take and dance very 
civilly till they are weary), with their Ensign, or flying colours 
made of silk, and the loyners make themselves one (vexillum) 
o.i of chip, ^y ht^oven .nd coloured, b« fte plo^^h- 
men have a white table clod, or sheet, instead of an ensign. 
W. K 

In Germany was formerly, about 50 or 60 yeares since, 
or not so long, Hkewise in use, that at night in the wintertime 
all the mayds of the village met together, and brough[t] with 
them along their Spinning-wheel, or distafi^, and spun very late 
in the night, where then the young men were not far off, which 
now is quite abolished by reason of the great exorbitances they 
committed. Cramer. [W. K.] 

Ovid's Metamorphoses, lib. iiii. [32-41]. 

Solae Mineides intns 



Intempestiya tnrbantes festa Minerva, 

Ant dncnnt lanas, ant stamina pollice versant, 

Ant haeient telae, f amnlasq. laboribns nrgent. 

£ qnibns nna leri dedncens pollice filnm, 

Dnm cessant aliae, comxnentaq' sacra freqnentant, 

Nob qnoqne, qnas Fallas, melior dea, detinet, inqnit, 

Utile opns mannnm yario sermone levemns: 

Perq' vices aliqnid, qnod tempora longa videri 

Non sinat, in medinm vacnas referamns ad anres.' 



Lanificio Metonymies. 



HEHAIKS OF GEKTILISKB AND JtJDAISMS. 47 

Church-aleSf in the Easter holydayer. 

These churoh-ales, no doubt, were derived from the a^diraij 
or love-feastes, mentioned in the New Testament.^ 

At Zerbst, in Germany, every hooskeeper, that is able, bakes 
at Easter-Even (as also at Whit Sunday-Even) even several 
greate Cakes about a yard long and an half yard broad for his 
fiunily to eat at the holy dayes. f W. K.] 

Servi {VUlanes). 

^^ In England we had many Bond-servants untill the time of 
our last Civil warres : and, I thinke, the Lawes of Yillena^e are 
still in force, of which the latest are the strongest. And now 
since slaves were made free, which were of great use and ser- 
vice, there are grown up a rabble of Rogues, Cutpurses, and 
other the like trades ; Slaves in Nature, though not in Law." 
S' Walter Ealeigh's Hist 5th j)art, pag. 326. 

Mdm. at Tormarton, in Gloucestershire (anciently the seate 
of Rivers, aflfcerwards S* Lowes by match ^) is a Dungeon of about 
13, or 14 foot deep, of good ashler-work. About four feet from 
the ground are iron rings fastned in the wall, and it is thought 
by the parishioners there, that it was to tye offending Villaines. 
All lords of manours had such power over their Villaines, and if 
they whip't them to death, they were not in danger of the Lawe. 

A statute about H. III. time, Quaerit Domini habere prisona 
de malefactoribus suis. D"^ Th. Gale. 

M' Hook found staples in y® wall at S* Martins-le-grand, and 
a skeleton. Id. 

But to ascend higher, sc. to Seigniories; all Castles had 
Dungeons. I remember at y^ castle at Bristowe there was one, 
at the bottome of every Tower. 

'Tis like enough, that all Monasteries had Dungeons too ; for 
they have the power of Life and Death within themselves ; wit- 

1 [See Miscellanies, p. 217. J 

« [" This mannor did anciently belong to the family de la Biyiere 

The family of the St. Loe's were afterwards lords of this manor. Sir John St. 
Loe, in right of his wife, was seized thereof 1481." Atkyns* Ancient and 
Present State of Glostershiie (1712).— Ed.] 



48 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAI8ME. 

nesse the poore Monke at in France, who, upon 

complaint of his friends to the Bishop of the Diocese he was 
pluckt-out of 7® Dongeon in a most miserable condition; so. his 
feet and hands were rotten ; and shortly after he d jed. This 
was in the yeare of our Lord 1663. 

S' John Hoskyns (from whom I had this account) was then 
in France. 

At y« castle of Walingford under the government of Brien 
Fitz-Count, in the reign of Hen. 2, was a very deep dark 
dungeon call'd Cloere-Brien. [W. K.] 

There be now iron staples strong and large in the walls of y® 
chancel in the church of Amersden [Ambrosden] com. Oxon., to 
w^^ as tradition pretends, the confessors us'd to tie and whip 
the penitent women. [W. K.] 

Painted'fflasse vmdovoes in Churches. 

** Delnbra snnt omnia snbobscnra, nee id aedificandi inscitia factum, sed con- 
silio Sacerdotnm fenmt, immodicam Incem dispergere; parciore yelut dubia colligi 
animos, & intend! Beligionem pntant." — S*" Tho: More's Utopia. 

Willielmus Malmesburiensis, page , saeth, 

Aedificia ^ saxo, et fenestras yitrea anno Domini 735 per Benedictom Abbatem 
(nisi raro). 

& S' William Dugdale told me, he finds that the art of painting in 
Glasse came first into England in King John's time, qd. NB. 

The curious Oriental reds, yellows, blew, & green in Glasse 
painting (especially when the sun shines) doe much refresh the 
Spirits. After this manner did D' E. revive the spirits of a poor 
distracted gentleman; for whereas his former Physitian shutt 
up his windowes and kept him in utter darknesse, he did open 
his windowe-lids and let in the light, and filled his Windowes 
with glasses of curious Tinctures, which the distempered person 
would alwaies be looking on, and it did conduce to the quieting 
of his disturb't spirits. I remember D' Sanderson sales (speaking 
of church musique) in short, whatever does tend to the quieting 
of the mind & contemplation, tends to Devotion, qd. NB. con- 
trary to the Presbyterians & Fanaticks. 



REMAINS OK GENTILI8HE AND JUDAISME. 49 

Johannes Medicos, who lived and wrot in time of Ed. 2, and 
was Physitian to that king, gives an account of his caring the 
Prince of y* Smallpox (a distemper but then lately known in 
England) by ordering his bed, his room, and his attendants to 
be all in scarlet, and imputes y* cure in great measure to the 
vertue of y® colour. — W. EL 

Churches. 

[The whole of this note is by Dr. Rennet.] 

As to the situation of the primitive Xtian Churches, it is 
evident that they were commonly set upon an hill or some high 
and eminent place, and looked toward y^ East. 

Noetrae columbae domns simplex, etiam in editis semper, et apeitis, et ad 
Incem, amat figniam Spiritns sancti, orientem Christi figuram. TertnUian 
adyersns Yalent. 

The Quire at the east end of Xtian Churches was contrary to 
the site of y« Temple at Jerusalem, whose Holie of Holies or 
upper end was westward. The church built by Cardinal 
Bichlieu at Bichlieu, a Town of his own building too, has its 
Quire westward, and its entrance in at the east end thereof, w^ 
was so appointed by him I suppose, least otherwise it might 
spoil the fashion of his Town, a respect being had to the Model 
according to w®^ it was built, and not out of an opinion of the 
indifferencie of situation, for albeit he were contented to turn his 
face sometimes westward in his adoration when living, yet being 
dead he looks Eastward in the Chappel of his own building in 
the college of Sorbon, where he lies buried. What was done 
by the said church of Bichlieu was intended by that in Covent 
Garden, but it was not permitted to be consecrated till the said 
design was altred, v^^ was done. — Savage, Dew of Hermon, 
p. 26. 

Some Cathedrals were built w**^ a single Cross, representing 
that whereon our Saviour was crucified (for since Constantine's 
In hoc vincesj Churches have not been only so built, but the 
sails of ships have been furled up in manner of a Cross) ; some 
were built w*^ a double Cross, the uppermost representing that 
whereon the title was written, I N B I. 

E 



50 



REKAI27S OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 




Not only Churches but some Towns in England seem of 
design to be built after the manner of a cross especially 
Glocester, whose figure stands thus : — 

a. y® Eastgate. b. the 
Northgate. c. y* South- 
ed, y® Westgate. e. the 
College V. S* Maries 
Church. /. the castle. 
g. y* Middle row. 

And indeed the form of Oxford is much the same : — 

a. the castle, b. High 

bridge, c. Northgate. ^ 

d. Eastgate. e. Cairfax. 

It was a custom in Conventual Churches to hang an Agnus 
Dei at the top of the steeple or spire, w*'^ the Religious thought 
a charm agst storms and thunder. — ^Vit. S. Alban. Abbat, p. 
142. 

Images in Christian Churches. 

Mr. Tho. Hobbes (Malmesburiensis) saies in his Kingdome 
of Darknesse (speaking there of Images) the Christians found 
them, not made them : but let them stand. 

"Tfw/ot; Carolls. 

Edm. Waller, Esq. (Poet), said that Poetrie was abused when 
'twas turned to any other subject than the Praise of the Creator. 
The principal service of Otod is neglected, and Petitions and 
Thanksgiving for ourselves, used in its stead. — So Orpheus's 
Hymns, Homes, &c. 

Insert here our Christmas Carolles. 




Pentalpha^s? 



[See Appendix.] 



fiEMAIKS OF GEKTILISMK AND JUDAISME. 5l 

This figure of three triangles intersected and made of five 
lines, is called the pentangle of Solomon, and when it is de-^ 
lineated on the body of a man, it is pretended to touch and 
point out the five places wherein our Saviour was wounded. 
And therefore there was an old superstitious conceit that this 
figure was a fuga DaBmonum, the Devils were afiraid of it. 
W. K. 

This marke was heretofore used as the signe of the ►J^ is now ; 
sc. at the beginning of letters, or bookes, for good-lucks sake ; and 
the women among the Jews (Dr. Kalph Batburst tells me) did 
make this marke on the childrens chry some cloathes. This marke 
is one of the Pentacles mentioned in Clavjcula Solomonis (a 
MSS. which I have given to the museum at Oxon.), w°^ see 
and transcribe it here. Mr. Lancelot Morehouse, the minister 
of Little Langford, did commonly putt this marke at the top of 
his letters, as now some putt the ^. 

Mr. "Wyld Clarke Merchant Factor at Santo Crux in Barbarie 
tells me, that the Jewes in Barbery have this mark above, on 
their trunks, in nailes, and on their cupbords, and Tables : so in 
France, &c. and heretofore in England, were putt crosses ►J^ for 
good luck, and my old friend Mr. Lancelot Morehouse (rector 
of Pertwood in Wilts) was wont to make this marke at the top 
of his missive letters, as the R. Catholiques doe the ►fi. And 
he told me (1660) that the Greeke Christians did so. 

Mdm. Pentacles are clearly Jewish, as appears by the Hebrew 
letters inscribed in them. v. Zecorbeni. 

Li Kent & many other parts the women when they have 
kneaded their dough into a loaf cut y® form of a cross on the top 
ofit— [W.K.] 

Li Grermany some of the vulgar sort of People make a Cross 
before they begin anything, viz.: when tlioy are cutting a loaf, 
they make first a Cross upon it with the knif, &c. 

TergetOTs (or Tregetors). 
Concerning Tergetors, see Chaucer, in The Frankelin's tale. 

For I am siker that ther ben sciences, 

By whiche men maken dyyerse apparences, 

E 2 



62 BEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAJSME. 

Such as the sabtill tregetores plaj. 
For oft at f estes haye I well heard say, 
t That tregetores, within an hall large, 

Hare made come in water and a barge 
And in the hall rowen np and donne. 
Sometime hath seamed come a grim liomi» 
And sometime flowers spring as in a bede 
Sometime a vine and goipeB white and rede; 
Sometime a castel of lime and stone, 
And when hem listed, Toiden hem anone: 
Thus seemed it to eyeiy man^s sight 

The Squire's Tale. 

And other rowned to his f elaw lowe. 
And saied he lied, for it is rather like 
An apparence made by some magike. 
As Jogglonrs plaien at these f eastes great, 
Of sundry thoughts thns they jangle and treat 
As lewed > people deemeth commonly 
Of things that been made more snbtilly, 
Than they can in her lewdness comprehend; 
They deemen gladly to to the badder end, 
And some of hem wondren on the mirronr, 
(That bom was np to the maister tonr) 
How men might ih it snch things see. 
Another answerd and sayd it might well bee 
Natnrally by compositions 
Of angels and slie reflections; 
And saedon that in Rome was snch on, 
They speaken of Alhazen and Vitellion, 
And Aristotle that writeth in her lives 
Of qneint mirronrs, and of perspectiyes 
As knowing they that han her bookes heard. 

Sir Gefrey Chaucer was born about the second or third yeare 
of King Edward the third; and died 25 Octob. 1400, sc. tpe. 
Hen. 4. About this time Friar Roger Bacon lived. 

I have heard my grandfather Lyte say, that old father Davis 
told him, he saw such a thing donne in a Gentlemans hall at 
Christmas, at or neer Durseley in Gloucestershire, about the 
middle of King Henry the eight's reigne. Edmmid Wyldj 
Esq. saies, that it is credibly reported, that one showed the new 
King of France, in anno 1689, or 1690, this trick, sc. to make 

> (i.) ignorant. 



R£MAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISHE. 53 

the apparition of an Oake, &c. in a hall, as described by Chaucer, 
and no conjuration. The King of France gave him the person 
five hundred Louis d*or for it.^ 

Mdm. a Hamborough Merchant, now (or ktelj) in London 
did see this trick donne at a Wedding in Hamborough, about 
1687, by the same person that shewed it to the Eling of France. 
E. W[yld], Esq. 

Qusere Mr, Martin (the jeweller), &g. dehijs. See Mr. Baxter's 
Booke of Apparitions, &c. 1691. 

SpaCd BkcJu 

I believe all over England, a spaied bitch is accounted whole- 
some in a House; that is to say, they have a strong beliefe that 
it keeps away evill sprits from haunting of a House ; e. g. amongst 
many other instances, at Cranbom in Dorset about 1686, a house 
was haunted, and two Tenants successively went away (left the 
house) for that reason: a third came and brought his spaid 
bitch, and was never troubled. 

[In the account of the haunted house at Woodstock (Plot's 
Nat. Hist Oxon., pp. 206-210), we read : 

" October 21. The Keeper of their Ordnary and his bitch lay 
in one of the rooms with them, which night they were not dis- 
turbed at all. But October 22, though the bitch kennel'd there 
(to whom they ascribed their former nights rest), both they and 
the bitch were in a pitifiil taking." p. 207.— Ed.] 

Had Ovid finished his Festivalls, 'tis very likely we might have 
found this Preservative in some of y« remaining monthes he left 

undonne. 

— «- yissBq' canes nlnlara per nmbram 
Adventante Dea— Virg. -ffineid: 6, [257-8.] 

and (I thinke) in Homers Odysses there is something to this 
purpose, qusere. 

Invisibility. 

Take on Midsummer-night, at xii., when all the planets are 
above the earth, a Serpent and kill him, and skinne him ; and 

* [See Appendix.] 



54 REMAINS OF GENTILISMX Am) JUDAISMS. 

dry it in tiie shade and bring it to a powder. Hold it in your 
hand and yon will be invisible. This Beceit is in Johannes de 
Florentid (a Bosycrosian) a booke in S° in high Dutch. Dr. 
Bidgeley the Physitian hath it, who told me of this. 

M. 'Tis on Si Agnes ntght (January 21) not St. Annes 
night, that y« Dreames are given. Ben Johnson (the woemen 
tell mej was out as to St. Anne's night. [The reference here is 
to Jonson's masque of "The Satyr," where he says that the fairy 
queen Mab can 

''—on sweet St Anna's night, 
Feed them with a promised sight, 
Some of hnsbands, some of lovers, 
Which an empty dream disoovers-^'^-Ed.] 

When the {"^*| cheeke bnms. 
When the eie-lid itcheth. 

Mdm. William Fenshaw Esq. told me, that he had seen a 

letter writt by Cardinal Wolsey to the Lord to this 

purpose, viz.: 

My Lord, I understand that there is a Reformation in Religion intended by the 
Parliament ; and I wish that severall things were reformed ; but let me tell yon 
that when yon have reformed, that others will come, and refine npon yon, and 
others again npon them; et sic deinceps ; that at last there will be no Religion 
left, but Atheisme will spring np. The Mysteries of Religion are to be let alone ; 
they will not beare an examination. 

I confesse this recitall here foreigne to these Bemaines, but it 
deserves to have roome. 



[Here begins a second part prefaced as follows.] 

Bemains of Gentilisme, 1688. 

LACTAlilTIUS. 
Frimnm sapientiae gradns est falsa intelligere. 

Ovid, de Ponto, Eleg. 6 [lib. I. v. 44-45]. 
Qnid potins faciam? non sum qhi segnia dncam 
Otia; mors nobis tempns habetnr iners. 



BEKAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISHE. 55 

Dr. Sanderson, Sermon 9*^, ad Aulam, !■* Volume, p. 176, D. 

" The ancient church hoth Greeke & Latine, by the Warrant of the holy spirit 
in the N. T., tooke the liberty to make use of sundry words &; phrases fetch'd 
from the very dregs of Paganisme, for the better explication of sundry points in 
the Xpian Faith; and to signify their notions of sundry things of Ecclesiasticall 
usage to y« people. The Greek Church hath constantly used this word iivariipiov ; 
a heathenish superstitious word ; the Latine Church in like manner the word 
Sacramentum, a heathen military word : to signify hereby the holy Sacraments of 
the Xpian Church. I hare noted it the rather, to let you know that the godly & 
learned Christians of these Primitiye times were not so fondly shy and scrupu- 
lous (as some of ours are) as to boggle at it; and much lesse so rashly supercilious 
(I might say, and superstitious too), as to cry down and condemn for evil, and 
eyen eo nomine, the use of all such, whether names or things, as were inyented, 
or haye been abused by Heathens, or Idolaters.'* 

Mr. J. Seldon writt a 4*® booke called Tabletalke ; w<* will 
not endure the Test for y® Presse : speaking there of Ovid's 
Fastorum, he sales, ^^ that he was the Canonist of those times.'' 
The Earle of Abingdon hath a copie of it in MS. : as also y® 
Earle of Carbery : it will not endure the Presse. 

The Britons imbibed y"* G^Atilisme from the Bomans ; and 
as the British language is crept into corners : sc. Wales, and 
Comwalle : so the Bemaines of Gentilisme are still kept there, 
w* customes (no doubt) were anciently over all Britaine and 
Gaule ; but the Inundation of the Goths, drove it out, together 
with the Language. When I was in France (1664), M"'^'*' Eotier 
told me, that much of the frdsome Superstition and Ceremonies 
were left off, with [in] the last 30 yeares. The Jesuites (clearer 
sighted than the other Orders) doe omitt them, as being ridiculous 
and giving scandall. Perhaps in Britanie in France many of 
the old Boman customes may be retained stiU. Quaere de hoc. 

Mdm. The English Foot and the English Mile are the neerest 
to the Boman Foot and Mile of any nation, v. Eratosthenes 
Batavus by WiUebrod Snellius, de hoc. 

But how comes it to pass, that the British language being 
utterly lost in England, that so many Boman Customes should 
yet remain ? But indeed they are most northward, and towards 
Wales ; the South retaines but few of them. 

This being added to the former part, with a little help, will 
serve for a Preface. 



56 REMAINS OF GEKTILISME AND JUDAISHE. 

Bead too over again Cicero's Natura Deorum. 

Ovid's Epistles. 
Stumbling at the threshold. 

Protesilans pede in limine offenso omen dederat — omen re- 
movete sinistmm. 

Cum foribus yelles ad Trojam ezire paternis, 
Fes tuns offenso limine signa dedit 

Epistle xiii. Laodameia Frotesilao [87-88.] 

Pedum offensiones semper infausti ominis faenmt. — ^Alex. lib. 2, Grenial. 
cap. 26. 

Edm. Spencer, in Mother Hubbards Tale, or in y« Shepherd's 
Kalendar, viz., when the Kid's mother went out in y* morning 
& left y® Kid behind, and sparr'd the dore, she stumbled at the 
Threshold, w°^ did bode her ill luck. 

Plighting of Troth, 
Commissaq' dextera dextrae.— Dido ^neae [Ep. ii. 31.] 

In Mariage, the Priest does joyne their right hands, and y® 
man saies I, N. take thee M. & e contra. 

So in confirming of Bargaines ; they say, Give me your hand 
upon it : meaning their right hand. 

So in Metamorph., lib. vii. [494-6]. 

^acidae longo jnvenes post tempore yisnm 
AgnoYere tamen Cephalnm, dextrasq' dedSre 
Inq' patris dnxere dommn. 

Metam., lib. vi. [506]. 

Utq' fide pignns dextras ntrasq' poposcit. 

In several parts of England, when two persons are driving a 
bargain one holds out his right hand and sais strike me, if y® other 
strike the bargain holds, whence y® striking a bargain. [W.K.] 

Amongst the Germains of the better sort the giving their 
right hand upon any promise holds as fast and sure as an oatbt 

Tutelar saints painted on the prowe of the Ships. 
As we have now the B. Virgin, Saint Christopher, &c, 



REMAINS OF GBNTILISME AND JUDAISME. 57 

Q. What S* is most powerftdl at sea ? 

Accipit et pictos pnppis adnnca DeoB. 
Qui tamen ipse yehor, comitata Cnpidine parvo 
Sponsor conjugii stat Dea picta sni. 

Paris Helena, 64 [£p. xvi. 111-113.] 

So in Tristium : 

Et pictos verberat nnda Deos. — ^Eleg. 8 [iy. 8.] 

Est mihi sitq', precor, flavae tntela Minervae 
NayiSy et a picta casside nomen habet. 

Oyid, Tristinm, Ub. i. eleg. 10 [1-2]. 

Ferq. tot eventns et iniqnis condta ventis 
Aeqnora Falladio munine tnta fiiit.^Ibid. [11-12,] 

Stranger in the Candle. 
Hero to Leander: — [Ep. xix.] 

Interea Inmen (posito nam scribimus illo) 
Perstrepit [stemnit] et nobis prospera signa dedit. 

Ecce mermn nntrix fanstos instillat in ignes: 
" Cras erimns plnres," inqnit, et ipsa bibit. — [151-154.] 

Morning Dreamee^ ibid, 

Namq' snb aurora, jam dormitante Inoema, 

Sonmia qno cemi tempore vera solent, 
Stamina de digitis cecidere sopore remissis; 

CoUaq' pnlyino nostra ferenda dedi. 
Hie ego ventosas natem delphina per nndas 

Cemere non dnbia snm mihi yisa fide. 
Qnem postqnam bibnlis injecit flnctns arenis, 

Unda simnl misemm vitaq' desemit. — [195-202.] 

Morning dreames are by many in these dayes observed. 
Cutting Names ofi y Barkes of Beech Trees. 

Incisae servant a te mea nomina fagi, 
Et legor Oenone, falce notata tna.~[Ep. y. 21-22.] 

Nodding of Images^ p. 89; Pub Fraudes. 

This is an old piece of priest-j^^^^®]. The Image of the 
B. Virgin nodded to S^ Bernard, and said (id est, the Priests 



58 BEMAINS OF OENTILISHB AND JUDAISME. 

hoj with a tube behind the statue), Gtood morrow, Father 
Bernard ; I thanke your La?, qd he, but S^ Paul saeith that is 
not lawful for women to speake in the church. 

Dr. Brevent, of y« Masse, and Pre&ce to y« Translation of 
S^ Bernard's Soliloquies. 

At Leominster in Herefordshire, was a great Nunnery, where 
the head of the Image of our Lady did on extraordinary occa- 
siones, nodde : Upon the dissolution, they found the joints in 
the neck adapted for it. — Boohe of Martyrs, 

" In all Religions Preist-craft is the same." Mr. J. Dryden, 
Absolom and AchitopheL 

Acontius Cydippae : 

Jnro, qnam colimns, numina magna Deae. 
Adfaity et praesens at erant, tna yerba notayit. 
Et visa est mota dicta > tnlisse ooma. — [Ep. zx. 19-20.] 

ViUaifiB, 

IJtq' Solent famnli, cnm Terbera saeya yerentnr 
Tendere snbmissas snb tna cmra manns. — [Ep. xx. 77-78.] 

Whipping of Villains. 
Certe ego cnm posita stares ad yerbera yeste. — [Am. lib. i. yi. 19.] 

Before Yillenage was taken off, if a lord of a manner had 
whipp't his Yillaine to death, he would not have been hanged. 

Cydippe Acontio : 

Frotinns egresso Snperis, qnibns insnla sacra est, 
Flaya salntatis tbnra memmq' damns. — [Ep. xxi. 91-92.] 

Ubi Larem familiarem salutavit. Plant. Amphitr. act 4, seen. 
1. Consueyerant' Deos salutare. 

Springs. 

Est nitidns yitreoqne magis perlncidns amne, 
Fons sacer: hnnc mnlti nnmen habere pntant. — [Ep. xy. 156-7.] 

In Cheshire, in Mr. M. Kents Grandmother's time, when 
they went in Perambulation, they did Blesse the Springs (i), they 
did read a Ghospell at them, and did believe the water was the 
better. 

* Anspisse, id qnod capitis nutn prae se tnlit. 



BEICAINS OF GENTILISME AKD JUDAISIIE. 59 

On Bogation days Gospells were read in j* cornfields [before] 
tiie Civill Warrs. 

Menu A gosple read at y^ head of a barrle in Procession 
w'thin the parish of Stankke, com. Qxon. Yid. Dr. Plot, Nat. 
Hist, of Oxf. [W. K] 

[^^ I cannot but note an odd custom at Stanlake, where the 
parson in the procession abont Holy Thursday reads a gospel 
at a barrels head in the cellar of the Chequer Lm, where some 
say there was formerly a hermitage; others, that there was 
anciently a cross, at which they read a gospel in former times, 
over which ^ow the house and particularly the cellar being built 
they are forced to perform it in manner as above."— yPlot, Nat. 
Hist. Oxfordsh. (1677), p. 203.] 

Qnem sapra ramoB extendit aqnfttica lotofs, 

Una nemus: tenero cespite terra yiret. 
Hie ego cnin lassos posnissem flebilis artns, 

Forxnosiis pner est yisns adesse mihi. — [Ep. xt. 169-162.] 

Siye redis, pnppisq' tnas Yotiya paramiiB 
Munera; qnid laceras pectora nostra mora? 

[Ep. XV. 211-212.] 

Amobum. 
Raw-head 8^ hhody-bone feard by Children. 

At quondam noctem simnlacraq' yana timebam: 
Mirabar, tenebris si qnis itnms erat.— [Lib. i. yi. 9-10.] 

yenit amor, non umbras nocte yolantes, 

Non timeo — [yi. 13-14.] 

Qnis Veneris famnlae connnbia liber inire, 
Tergaq' complecti yerbere secta yelit?— [Lib. iL Eleg.7, 21-22.] 

et intorto yerbere terga seca.— Tibnllns. [Eleg. lib. i. ix. 22.] 

Mem. A whipping Tom in Kent who disciplined the 
wandring Maids and Women till they were afraid to walk 
abroad. [W. K.] 

WUches^ according to tf Scotch rule. 

Ocnlis quoq' pnpula duplex 

Fnlminat, et gemino Inmen ab ore yenit— [Lib. i, viii. 15-16.] 

Stella tibi oppositi nocnit contraria Martis.— [Lib. i. yiii. 29.] 



60 REMAINS OF OENTIUBHE AND JUDAISME. 

Girdles. * Unffirt, ufJ)les8%^ a Proverb. 
Ipse ego Begnis eram, discinctaq' in otia natii8.^[Lib. i. iz. 41.] 

A consnetndine Bomanonun, qiiibns tnrpe erat in publicum ire discinctos. — 
p. 132. 

FroYerbinm est apnd Hebraeos, nt Inmbos praecingeie ant snccingere, dicant 
pndicitiam aerrare, & a libidine sibi temperare. Hoc respectn Jehorah ad 
Jobn*, cap. 38, y. 3, & cap. 40, y. 7. Accinge sicnt yir Inmbos tnos (i) sicnt yir 
fortis restringe Inxnriam. 

Henr. Melbomins de FUigros nan yen. 

SO. a dissolute fellow. 

Non pndet ad morem discincti yiyere Nattae ? Pen. Sat. iii. [31] : 

et discinctns bic accipitnr p' metapborice a yerbe bixa p* dissolnto, Inznrioso 
et intemperante. Nam discingi ford moUitiem ettnrpitndinem qnondam significat, 
nnde proyerbinm, Discincta yestis, discinctns animns. 

« 

S' W. Davenant's Qondibert : 

<^ He seem'd tbe Heir of prosperous parents toiles, 
Gaye as jonng Kings tbat wooe in foreign Conrts, 
Or joyfnl Victors after Persian spoiles ; 
He seem'd of loye and courtship made for sports ; 
But wore his doathing loose, and more un-brac't 
Than Bayishers oppos'd in their designe." 

Gird up the loines of your mind. — 1 Peter, i. 13. 

Upon this text, Biolanus in his Anatomie (I remember) makes 
an observation ; that to be nn-girt, inclines a man to venery. [See 
p. 41.] 

Mdm. to see in Cotgrave's Dictionary y® word Ceincture. 

[ JJnluchy number. "] 

Ergo ego yos rebus dnplices pro nomine sensi? 
Anspicii numerus non erat ipse boni. — [Lib. i. xii. 26-27.] 

I thinke the Table-players doe not count a Deux a good cast. 

Stumbling^ goeing out of dore. 

Omina sunt aliquid : modo cum discedere yellet, 
Ad limen digitos restitit icta Nape. — [Lib. i. xii. 3-4.] 

An III Tongue. 
Nee minuit densas inyida lingua comas.— [Lib. i. xiy* 42.] 



BEMAINS OF GEKTILISIIE AND JUDAISME. 61 

Periwiggs. 

Nnnc tibi captivos mittet Germania crines ; 
Cnlta taiiimphataB mimere gentis oris. — [Lib. i. xiy. 45-46. ] 

Charmes. 

Cannina BangamesB dedncunt comna Lunae; 
Et roTocant niyeos Soils enntis eqnos.— [Lib. ii. i. 23-24.] 

Tacitus, Annales^ lib. ii. : 

B'aillenrs on tronyoit des carcasses et des ossemens de morts deterrez, de 
channes & des imprecations contre les parois ; le nom de Germanicns gray6 
dans les lames de plomb, de cendres tontes sonillees de sang, & plnsienrs antres 
sortileges par ou Ton croit qne les ames sont consacrees anx Dienx souterrains. 

Speaking by ones Fingers. 

Verba snperciliis sine yoce loqnentia dicam : 
Verba leges digitis, yerba notata mero.^[Lib. i. iy. 19-20.] 

This is in use in our dayes ; sc. a, b, c, &c. alphabet on the 
several joints of y* fingers. 

nee in digitis littera nnlla fnit.— [Lib. ii. y. 18.] 

Witchcraft, 

Sagaye pnnicea defixit nomina cera, 
Et medium tennes in jecnr nrget acns — [Lib. iii. yli. 29-30.] 

King Edward G*^ was killed by Witch-craft by figures after this 
manner : see the Chronicle ; and y® late D. of Buckinghams 
mother was killed in Ireland by a figure made with haire by her 
2^ husbands (L* Ancram) brothers nurse, who bewitched her 
to death because her foster-child (2^ brother) should inherit y® 
estate: and one Hammond, of Westminster, was hangd, or 

tryed for his life about 1641 for killing by a 

figure of wax.^ 

Q. Y® Countesse of Thanet, again. 

Times prohibiting Marriage. 

Annna yenemnt Cerealis tempora sacri : 

Secnbat in vacuo sola puella toro. — [Lib. iii. x. 1-2.] 

Idem in Sacris Isidis fiebat. v. Lib. i., Amorum, Eleg. 8. 

* [See Appendix.] 



62 filMAIHS OF OSKTIUSME AND JUDAISMS. 

Sacred Grroves. 

Stat yetns et deivsa praennbiliu aibore lacns ; 
Adspioe; conoedas muninis ease locum.— [lab. iiL xiii. 7-8.] 

Beligious Groves are of great antiquitie^ as appeares by the 
Sacred Seriptnre ; and in many Religious Houses after 
Christianiiy they were planted or found. Exod. 34, 13, Ye 
shall eutt downe their groves. Deut 7-5, 12, 13 ; Kings 

14, 23, built them groves. 2 Chron. 33, 19, Manassah set up 
groves before he was humbled: 24, 3, Josiah began to purge 
Judah of groves; Isa. 17, 8, Not lookt either to groves or 
images. 1 Eangs 15, 13, She had made an idol in a grove, &c. 

De Arte Amandi. 



Sonnenmt cymbala toto 



Littore, et attonita tympana pnlsa maniL — [lib. i. 637-8.] 

Hence are derived y^ tabor and pipe. 

Blessing. 

Et, Bene, die, dominae; [bene, cnm qno dormiat ilia:] 
Sed male sit tacita mente piecare yiro. — [Lib. i. 601-2.] 

Qnibns omnia bona optabant, iis precabantnr. Bene sit: sicnt contra impre- 
cantes dicebant, male sit [Cfr.] Plant. Cnrcul. Act. 4, Seen. nit. 

Et veniat, qne instret anns lectnmq' locnmq': 
Fraeferat et tremnla snlphnr et ova mann. — [Lib. ii. 829-830.] 

Lnstrationibns et aqnam perennis flayii adhibet. Hom. Hi. Apnlei ; Incidam 
tffidam, ovimi, et snlphnr. — [Metam. lib. xi. cap. 16.] Item Jnyenal, Satyr, 2 k 
6. Yid. Natal, lib. 1. Mytholog. cap. 16.] 

A magiall Receipt to know whom one sJmU marry. 

See Stanihurst. 

Egges roasted hard, and the yelke taken out and salt putt in 
its sted, sc. filled up: to be eaten fiststing without supper, when 
you goe to bed. I thinke only one egge. 

M" Fines, of Albery, in Oxdsh. did thus : she dream't of an 
ancient grey or white haird man and such a shape, which was 
her husband. This I had from her owne mouth, at Bicot, before 
the Earle of Abington. v. Theocriti Idyllion II. of strewing of 
salt in y® witchcraft. 



REMAmS OF QBKTILISlfE AKD JTJDAISHB. 63 

Irish custome yet used by them. 

J fan. morior: cara lamina conde maun : 



Exit, et, incanto panlatim pectore lapsus, 
Excipitnr miBeri spiritns ore YirL— [Lib. iii. 742, 746-6.] 

Secret writing. 

Tata qaoqae est, fallitq' ocolos e lacte recent! 

Littera: carbonis pnlyere tange; leges. 
FaUet et hamidali qaae fiet acomine lini 

Et feret occaltas para tabella notas.— [Lib. iii 627-630.] 



BSMEDIUM AmOBIS. 

Day-fatality. 
nee te (a) peregrina morentnr 



Sabbata; nee damnis Allia (b) nota sais. — [219-220.] 

(a.) JudsBis culta, i de Arte Coltaq. Judeo septima sacra vise. 

aat omina dira 

Satami [aat] sacram me tennisse diem. Tiball. — [Lib. i. iii. 18-19.] 

(b.) Dies Alliensis ater. So we dread to doe any businesse 
on Childermas day, so. Innocents : as also on the Sunda7.»^[See 
p. 12.] 

In Ibin. 

Haec est in fastis cai dat grayis Allia nomen. — [221.] 

Memorandum. In old MS. Kalenders, and (if I much mistake 

not) in y® Kalender of Ven. Bede, are severall unlucky dayes 

noted downe, these in verse: e.g. I remember for the first of 

January, w^^ is unlucky, 

Prima dies mensis, et nltima trnncat at ensis. 

Db Nuck. 
Even or odde. 

Est etiam, par sit nameras qai dicat, an impar : 
Ut diyinatas aaferat angor opes.— [79-80.] 

Pbdonis Albinovani ad Liyiam. 

Irish custome. 

At miseranda parens saprema neq' oscnla fixity 

Frigida nee foyit membra tremente sina. 
Non animam apposito fagientem excepit hiata.*<-[96-97.] 



64 B2MAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 



Scriech^atolea. 

Sedit in adrerso noctornns cnlmine babo, 
Fnnereoq* grayes edidit ore sonoe. — [Ibis, 225-226.] 

They are held unlaoky in our dayes. 

Maffick, 

Ut qni post longoxn lacri monstrator iniqni 
EUcuit plnrias yictima cmsaa aquas.— [Ibis, 399-400.] 

Thracius Busiriden docuit nece humanae pluvias impetrari 
posse a Jove, sed primus ad illo occisus est— [cfr.J Ovid. 1 
Arte [649-650.] 

From y« AegypL Juvenale, D' Tho. Gtde. 

Inyidiam f aoereiit nolenti snigere Nilo. — [ Jny. Sat xy. 123.] 

Tbistium, Lib. I. 
Frankincense. 

Hoc dnoe, si dixi felicia secnla; proq' 
CiBsare thnra pins Caesaribiuiq' dedi — [Eleg. ii. 103-104.] 

So Tacitus speakes of Tiberius sacrificing to his father, when 
his wife came and taunted at him. 

Prostratianj e. g, in y* Apocalyps. 

Ilia etiam ante Lares passis prostrata capillis 

Contigit extinctos ore tremente focos: 
Mnltaq' in ayersos effadit yerba penates. — [Eleg. iii. 43-45.] 

Lib. IIL 

Ewe Trees sc. in Churchyards* 

Vtq* yiret Lanros semper, nee fronde eadnca 
Carpitnr; aetemnm sic habet ille decus [Eleg. i. 45^.] 

Offerings at Funeralls. 

Tn tamen extincto feralia mnnera ferto. — [Eleg. iii. 81.] 

Lib. IL Eleg. 1. 

Et pia thnra dedi pro te (Caesare). — [59.] 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 65 

Lib. III. de Natali, Eleg. 13 [13-18]. 

Scilicet expectas soliti tibi moris honorem, 
Fendeat ex hnmeris [yestis] nt alba meis ? 

Famida cingatnr florentibns ara coronis ? 
Micaq' solenni thuris in igne sonet ? 

Libaq' dem pro te genitale notantia tempns ? 
Concipiamq' bonas ore f ayente preces ? 

Lib. mi. 
Criatning Cakes. 

Lucifer amborom natalibns adfnit idem: 

Una celebrata est per dno liba dies. — [x. 11-12.] 

We still use Cakes at Christnings. Also cakes at Twelfetyde 
when they wassail the oxen ; also at Easter, Whitsontyde, and 
at Home-harvests. At Heydelberg, in Germany, every woman 
gets at the Christning a Cake. And there are sometimes two, or 
three score pair of them. Cramer. 

At Burcester [Bicester] in Oxfordshire at a Christening the 
women bring every one a Cake and present one first to the 
minister if present. At Wendlebury and other places they bring 
their Cakes at a Gossiping, and give a large cake to the father 
of the child, w^^ they call a Rocking Cake. At Amersden [Am- 
brosden], in Oxfordsh. it was a late custom to oflfer for every 
burial to the minister at the church porch one cake and one pot 
of ale.i W. K. 

The maids in Oxfordshire have a way of foreseeing their 
sweethearts by making a dumb cake; that is, on some Fryday- 
night, several Maids and Batchelors bring every one a little 
flower, and every one a littel salt, and every one blows an egge, 
and every one helps to make it into past, then every one makes 
y® cake and lays it on the gridiron, and every one turns it, and 
when bakt enough every one breaks a piece, and eats one part 
and laies the other part under their pillow to dream of y® person 
they shall marry. But all this to be done in serious silence 
w'hout one word or one smile, or els the cake looses the name 
and the vertue. W. K. 

' [These customs baye long been extinct in the places named. Ed.] 

F 



66 REMAINS OF OEKTILISME. 

Liber V. 
[^Funeral Customs.'] 

Tibia fmieribns conyenit ista meis — 

[Eleg. i. 48.] 

AUusio ad fiinerum consuetudinem in qnibus nsenia canebatas 
a tibicine, laudes deiuncti recensens. 

Natcdem. 
QiUBq' semel toto Testis mihi smnitnr anno, 

Somator f atis discolor alba meis. 
Araq' gramineo viridis decespite fiat ; 
Et yelet tepidos nexa corona focos. 
Da mihi thora, pner, pingnes facientia flammas, 
Qnodq' pio fnsnm stridat in igne merum. 

[Eleg. V. 7-12.] 

De [Ex] Ponto. 

Sed prins imposito Sanctis altaribns igni, 
Thnra fer ad magnos yinaq' pnra Deos. 

Lib. iii. Eleg. i. [161-2.] 

Canonized Saints. 

Nee pietas ignota mea est : yidet hospita terra 

In nostra sacmm Cffisaris esse domo, 
Stant pariter natasq' pins, conjnxq' sacerdos 

Nnmina jam facto non leyiora Deo. — Lib. iy. Eleg. 9 [106-8]. 



His ego do toties cnm thnre precantia yerba 
Eo qnotiens snrgit ab orbe dies. — [111-12.] 



Tn certe scis hoc, Snperis adscite, yidesq' 

Caesar, nt est ocnlis snbdita terra tnis. 
Tn nostras audis, inter conyexa locatns 

Sydera, soUicito qnas damns ore, preces.— [127-130.] 

testere licet: signate Qnirites. — [Lib. iy. Eleg. xy. 11] 



Testationes signis eorum, qui intererant, obsignare moris erat. 

OviDii Metamorphoses^ Lib. L 
Warwolfe. 

Territns ipse fngit; nactnsq' silentia mris 
Exnlnlat, fmstraq' loqni conatnr: ab ipso 

Colligit OS rabiem: solitaq' cnpidine caddis 
Vertitnr in pecndes, et nnnc qnoq' sangnine gandet, &c. 

Lycaon in Lnpnm [232-5]. 

This is the Lycanthropos ; the French call it Garloup ; and 
doe believe that some wicked cruel men can transforme them- 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 67 

selves into woolves and bite, and worry people and doe mischiefe 
to mankind: when I was at Orleans I sawe in the Hospitall 
there a young fellow in cure whose left cheeke was eaten (he 
sayd by this Garloup), for sayd he had it been a woolfe he would 
have killed me out right and eaten me up. No doubt heertofore 
this opinion was in this island, v. Verstegan de hoc. [See p. 83.] 

Pinnes. 



sed fibnla vestem 



Vitta coercuerat neglectos alba capillos. — [Metam. ii. 412-3.] 

Pinnes are of no great Antiquity; before they use a Claspe or 
a Thome. Mdm. the greatest wast of Copper is Pinnes, w^** 
one would little imagine; w^^ I heard Count Oxenstern (the 

King of Sweden's Embassador) affirme to the French 

Embassador at y® Royal Societie. 167 .. . 

ne puro tingatur in seqnore pellex. — Lib. ii. fab. vi. [530.] 

One would easily believe that sea-men should be y® most 
religious men of all other being so frequently in tempests ; 
the dreadfulnes whereof is admirably described by y® Prophet 
David, Psahne 107, v. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, & also by Ovid in 
his lib. i. Tristium, and xi. Metamorphosis, Fab. 10. 

As tempestdons times 

Amaze poor mortalls, and object their crimes. — G. Hebbebt. 

But thus much Superstition they still retain, that they will 
not endure a whore on Shipboard ; w^ (they doe believe) does 
cause a storme; and they will then make bold to throw her 
overboard, as it were a sacrifice to Neptune. When .... the 
IMLorocco Ambassador came to England he was in a dangerous 
storme, & he caused a sheep (or ram) to be sacrificed. The 
like opinion they have of a dead body on shipboarde, w** they 
hold to be very unlucky, and if a storme arises they will throw 
it into y® sea ; as they did that rare Mummie that Sir Peter 
Wych brought from Egypt. 

Old-wives Tales, 

Before printing, OJd-wives Tales were ingeniose : and since 
Printing came in fashion, till a little before the Civil-warres, 

F 2 



68 REMAINS OF GENTILI8ME. 

the ordinary sort of People were not taught to reade; now-a-dayes 
Bookes are common, and most of the poor people imderstand 
letters ; and the many good Bookes, and variety of Turnes of 
Affaires, have putt all the old Fables out of doors; and the divine 
art of Printing and Gunpowder have frighted away Robin-good- 
fellow and the Fayries. 

No8 qnoq', quas Pallas, melior dea, detinet, inqnit, 

Utile opus mannm yario sermone leyemiis, 

Perq' yices aliqnid, qnod tempora longa yideri 

Non sinat, in medinm yacnas referamns ad anres.— Lib. iiii. f 38-41.] 

In the old ignorant times before woomen were Beaders, y« 
history was handed downe from mother to daughter, &c. ; and 
W. Malmesburiensis pickt up his history from ye time of Ven. 
Bede to his time out of old Songs ; * for there was no writer in 
England from Bede to him. So my nurse had the history from 
the Conquest downe to Carl. I. iu ballad. 

Our Barrows. 

Qnaq' pater Corythi parya tnmnlatnr arena. — Lib. yii. fab. 9 [3611. 

St George. 

niic immeritam matemiB pendere lingnse 
Andromedam pasnas injnstns jnsserat Ammon. 
Quam simnl ad dnras religatam brachia cautes 
Vidit Abantiades (sc. Fersens); 

Trahit inf ems ignes 

Et stupet, eximiae correptns imagine format. 

nnda 

Insonoit: yeniensq' immenso bellna ponto 
Imminet: et latnm snb pectore possidet »quor. 
Conclamat yirgo, &c 

Hanc ego si peterem Fersens 

Praef errer cnnctis certe gener 

Ut mea sit, seryata mea, yirtnte paciscor, &c. 

Lib. iiii. fab. 18 [669-72, 676, 687-90, 696, 700, 702]. 

The story of St. George does so much resemble this that it 

makes us suspect 'tis but copied from it. Dr. Peter Heylin did 

* [See Appendix.] 



REMAINS OF QENTILISME. 69 

write the History Si George of Cappadoeia, w*'^ is a very blind 
business. When I was of Trin. CoU. there was a sale of Mr. 
W™ Cartwright's (Poet) bookes, many whereof I had ; amongst 
others (I know not how) was Dr. Daniel Featly's^ Handmayd to 
Devotion; vf^^ was printed shortly after Dr. Heylins Hist, 
aforesd. In the Holyday Devotions he speakes of St. George, 
and asserts the story to be fabulous ; and that there was never 
any such man. W"* Cartwright writes in the margent " For 
this assertion was Dr. Featly brought upon his knees before 
W"^ Laud A-Bp. of Canterbury." See S' Tho^ Browns Vulgar 
Errors concerning S' George, where are good Bemarks. He is 
of opinion that y® picture of S* George was only emblematical. 
Methinkes y® picture of S* George fighting with y® Dragon hath 
some resemblance of S^ Michael fighting with the Devil, who is 
pourtrated like a Dragon. 

• Ned Bagshaw of Chr. Ch. 1652 shewed me somewhere in 
Nicephorus Gregoras, that y® picture of St. George's horse on 
a wall neighed upon some occasion. Quis credere possit? Ovid 
Metamph. 15. I don't thinke Dr. Heylin consulted so much 
Greeke. 

The story of S^ George is wittily burlesqued in y® Ballad of 
" S' Eglamere that valiant knight," &c. 

I will conclude this paragraph with these following verses, 
that I remember somewhere : — 

To saye a Mayd, St. George the Dragon slew, 

A pretiy tale, if all is told be true: 
Most say, there are no Dragons: and 'tis sayd. 

There was no George; 'pray God there was a Mayd. 

But, notwithstanding these verses, there was such a one as 
S* George of Cappadoeia ; who was made Bishop of Alexandria, 
and is mentioned by S* Hierome, &c.^ 

Sheilda, [See p. 77.] 

At Nilens, qni se genitum septemplice Nilo 

Ementitns erat, clypeo qnoq' flnmina septem 

Argento partim, partim coelaverat anro. — Lih. v. fab. 1 [187-9]. 

* He was y« minister of Lambeth, where he was bnried. 

* [See Appendix.] 



70 REMAINS OF QBNTIUSME. 



Ale, 



at indd 



Prodit anas; Diyamq' yidet; Ijinphainq' roganti i 

Dulce dedit, tosLa quod coxerat ante, polenta.* — Lib. t. fab. 7 [448-450]. 

Mazes ^ or Mizmazes.^ 

Dsedalns, ingeuio fabrae celeberrimns artis, 
Ponit opns: tnrbatq' notas, et lamina flexnm 
Dacit in errorem yariara' ambage yianim. 
Non secas ac liqaidis Phrjgins Meeandras in nndis 
Lndit et, ambiguo lapsa reflaitq* flaitq'; 
Occnrrensq' Ribi yentaras aspicit andas: 
Innameras errore yias; yixq' ipse reverti 
Ad limen potait; tanta est fallacia tecti 

Utq' ope yirginea, nollis iterata priornm, 
Janna difficilis filo est inyenta relecto. 

[Lib. yiii. 169, 168, 172-176.] 

The carious description of this Labyrinth, putts me in mind 
of that at Woodstock bow'r, w*^^ my Nurse was wont to sing, 



VIZ. 



Yea, Rosamond, fair Rosamond, 

her name was called so, 
To whom dame Elinor oar Qaeen 

was known a deadly foe, 
The King therefore for her defence 

against the farioas Qaeen, 
At Woodstock bailded sach a Bower 

the like was neyer seen. 
Most curioaslj that Bower was bailt, 

of stone and timber strong, 
A hundred and fifty dores 

did to this Bower belong; 
And they so cunningly contriy'd 

with turnings round about. 
That none but with a clew of thread, 

could enter in, or out 



* Ex polenta, liquidu' dedit cum polenta, auferendi casn. Tumeb. KVK€&va 
interpretatur, quem Cicer. yertit cinnum: cui potioni conficiendsB miscebatur pol. 
h. e. farina hordeacea: de quo plura lege lib. 12, c. 8. y. etiam de farina hor- 
deacea in Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. [xx] cap. [51]. 

* [See Appendix.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 71 

The Mazes are in imitation of these Labyrinths : & anciently 
(I believe) there were many of them in England : on the downe 
between Blandford and Pimpem, in Dorset, which was much 
used by the young people on Holydaies and by y® School-boies. 
At West Ashton in Wilts, is another : and (I thinke) there is 
one on the Cotteswold Downes, where Mr. Dovers Games were 
celebrated. At Southwarke was a Maze, w*'^ is converted into 
Buildings bearing that name. There is a Maze at this day in 
Tuthill fields, Westminster, & much frequented in summer-time 
in fair afternoons. 

One on Putney Heath in Surrey. — [W. K.] 

Neglecting St. Richard^ b Well at Droytwich in Worcestersh. 

Coeptus ab agricolis Superos pervenit ad omnes 
Ambitiosus honos: solas sine thnre relictas 
Frasteritas cessasse fenmt Latoidos (sc. Dianffi) aras, 
Tangit et ira Deos. At non impmie feremus*; 
Qnseq' inhonorataB, non et dicemnr innltse ; 
Inqnit; et CBneos nltorem spreta per agros 
Misit aprum. ^Lib. viii. fab. 4 [276—282.] 

Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib. 31, c. 7. Dalecamp. Est apud Atheneum 
inTroade sal Tragasaaus, cui cum vectigal Lysimachus imposuisset, 
evanuit ; et vectigali, mox sublato, succrevit in usum. Rhodig. 
cap. 12, lib. 9. Junius c. 9, lib. 3, eandem historiam recitat, 
& multas praeterea ejusdem argumenti. 

In the Civil-warres they neglected the anniversary Dressing 
of the Salt-well at Droytwich : and afterwards the Spring became 
dry : to the great losse of the Towne ; and ever since (volens 
nolens) the Minister there (and also y® Soldiers) they did & will 
dresse it. [See p. 33.] 

The day of the solempnization of the feast and dressing this 
well is the ninth day after Whitsunday ; from M™* Hemmings. 
V. de hoc in the Lives of y® English Saints, in Westminster 
Librarie. 

First Fruits. 

(Enea namq' fernnt, plenis snccessibns anni, 

Primitias, f rugem Cereri, sua vina Lyaeo, 

Falladios flayse latices lib&sse MinenrsB. — [yiii. 273 6.] 



72 REMAINS OF GENTILISME 

Dres8ing~up of Churches wilh Flowers j 8fC. 

Templa coionantar ^Lib. Yiii. fab. 4 [264.] 

Hence come y« festons in Architecture. — Zopheri. 

Lib. yiii. fab. !!• 

Nee minos Antolyci conjnx, Erisichthone nata, 
Juris habet ; pater bnjns erat qni nnmina Diyum 
Spemeret, et nnllos aria adoleret honores. 
Ille etiam Cereale nemns yiolasse secnri 
Dicitnr, et Incos ferro temerasse yetastos. 
Stabat in his ingens annoso robore qnercns; 
Una nemns; vittae mediam, memoresq. tabellse, 
Sertaq. cingebant, voti argnmenta potentis. 
Saepe snb hac Diyades festas dnxere choreas. 
Saepe etiam, manibns nexis ex ordine, tmnci 
Circnmiere modnm: mensnraq. roboris ulnas 
Qninq. ter implebat; nee non et eaetera tanto 
Sylya snb hac omnis, qnantnm fnit herba snb ilia. 
« * « * « 

Dixit, et, obliqnos dnm telnm librat in ictns, 
Contremnit, gemitnmq. dedit Deoida qnercns: 

* * « « * 

Editns e mediu sonns est de robore talis: 

Nympha snb hoc ego snm, Cereri gratissima, ligno. 

Lib. yiii. fab. 11 [738—760, 757—8, 770—1.] 

I have seen in y® forest, before one comes to Orleans, on an 
old venerable oake, that grew by y® high way, an Altar and 
a painted picture; from the Serta come our festons, both at 
Festivalls and in Architecture. 

Refin'd Cups. 

' fabricataq. fago 

Pocnla, qnsB caya snnt flayentibns illita eeris. 

[Lib. yiii] Fab. 9 [669-670.] 

Ovid putts fagus for acer for y® verse sake. Beach would 
make a scurvy cup. 



1 Let this paragh. stand in y° margent for f^ti<][nity sake. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 



Lib. IX. 

Himdring a Womana Labour, 

VUi. meos audit gemitus, snbsedit in ilia. 
Ante fores ara, dextroq. apoplite IsBYom 
Fressa genn, digitis inter se pectine junctis 
Snstinnit partus. Tacita qnoq. carmina voce 
Dixit: et incoeptos tenuemnt carmine partus. 

Fab. vi. [297—301.] 

Woemen are superstitious as to this at woemens labours 
still. V. S' Th: Browns Vulgar Errors. 

Midwives woemen have some eustome, of saving the after- 
birth, or burning of it, in relation to the long or short life of the 
new-borne Babe. Quaere, to w''^ this in Ovid, lib. viii. fab. [4, 
451-459] seemes something to allude : 

Stipes erat, qnem, cnm partns enixa jaceret 

Thestias, in flammam triplices posnere sorores: 

Staminaq. impresso fatalia pollice nentes, 

Tempora, dixemnt, eadem lignoq. tibiq. 

O modo nate, damns. Quo postqnam carmine dicto 

Excessere DeaB; flagrantem mater ab igne 

Eripuit tonem: sparsitq. liqnentibns nndis. 

nie din fnerat penetralibns abditns imis; 

Seryatnsq. tnos, jnyenis, serrayerat annos. [451-469.] 



Cnm daret; elapss manibns cecidere tabelle 

Omine tnrbata est; misit tamen . [Lib. ix. 670-1.] 



{r ^ \ in Churches. 
Lamps) 



Te, Dea, te quondam,^ tuaq. base insignia yidi: 

Cnmtaq. cognoyi; sonitnm, comitesq. facesq. 

Sistromm . [Lib. ix. 776-7.] 



' Qua nunc in ara tua, ad quam adyolyor, conspiciuntur: hoc est, simulacrum 
tnum. 



74 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 



Rosemary Spriggea at Funeralls. 

Jamq, per immensos egesto sangaine fletns, i 

In viridem yerti ccBpemnt membra colorem: / 

£t modo qui niyea pendebant fronde capilli, 
Horrida ciesaries fieri; sumptoq. rigore 
Siderenm gracili spectare cacnmine coelom. 
Ingemnit: tristisq. Dens, Lngebere nobis, 
Lngebisq. alios, aderisq. dolentibns, inqnit. — [Lib. x.], Fab. iii. 

[136—142.] 

Horat. Carmina, lib. ii. ode 14 [23-25] : 

neq. hamm, qnas colis, arbonun 

Te, prster inyisas cnpressns, 
Ulla brevem dominnm seqnetnr. 

Epodon. ode 5 [18] : 

Jnbet cnpreasuB fonebres. 

Ingentnm stmxere pyram: cni frondibns atria 
Intexnnt latera et ferales ante cnpressos. [215-217.] 
Constitnnnt ^Virg. ^neid. lib. Ti. 



take off yonr Tiff 



Te men of Rosemaiy, and drinke np all, 
Remembring 'tis a Butler's Fnnerall: 
Had he been Master of good Donble Beer, 
My life for his John Dawson had been here. 

On Jo. Dawson, Butler of Christ-church, Oxon. 
Dr. Corbet's Poems. 

Garlands. 

Festa piae cereris celebrabant annua matres 

Dla, quibus nivea velatae corpora yeste 

Frimitias frugum dant, spicea serta, suarum. — lib. x. fab. 9 [431-3.] 

At Newton, in Malmesbury-hundred, on 

in Easter- weeke is an ancient Custome (still observed) of a mayd 
to give a Ghirland to a young man of that parish : see the de- 



^ Cyparissus in arborem. 

* AUudit ad Roman : consuetudinem, qu& cnpressns ante defunctor. domos 
collocabatur. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 75 

scription of it in my Description of the Antiquities of Wiltshire, 
Lib. A,^ In Germany 'tis still in use that young men get 
Ghirlands of Mayds which they take for a great kindness. 

The young man whose late sweetheart is married to some 
other person does often in a frolique literally wear a willow 
garland, as I have seen in some parts of Oxfordshire. — W. K. 

Myrrhe. 

Arbor agit rimas, et fissa cortice nymn 

Beddit onus vagitq. pner:' quern mollibas herbis 

Naiades impositnm lacrymis nnxlre parentis' — 

[Lib. X.] Fab. 10 [512-518]. 

Mdm. The gumme (Myrrhe) is given in Physick and mede- 
cines for woemens diseases. — See Riverius de hoc 

[Owen.] 

Ter pedis offensi signo est revocata. — Lib. x. fab. ix. [462.] 

Schriech Owles* 



ter omen 



Fanerens bubo lethali carmine fecit.— Md. [452-S.] 
Hanging out a white flag; ac.for aparle. 

Velamenta ^ mann prsstendens snpplice, qni sit, 
Qnoq. satns, memorat [Lib. xi. 279-280.] 

Halcyon'daiea. 

Perq. dies placidos, hybemo tempore, septem 

Incnbat Halcyone pendentibns nquore nidis, 

Tnm yia tnta maris: yentos cnstodit, et arcet 

^olns egressn: prsestatq. nepotibns asqnor. — ^Lib. xi. fab. 10 [745-8]. 

Hard-men. 

Tnm yero pneceps,' cnrm fremebnndns ab alto, 

Desilit: et nitido secnmm cominns hostem 

Ense petens, parmam gladio, galeamq. cayari 

Cemit, et in duro laedi qnoq. corpore fermm — Lib. xii. fab. 3 [128-131]. 

» [See p. 136.] * Adonidem. * Myrrbae. 

^ Quod erat filo laneo yelatnm cadncenm. 
' Acbilles, inynhierable but his heele. 



76 REMAINS OK GENTILISMB. 



Item, 



Cnm sic Nestor ait, Vestro fait onius leTO 
Contemptor ferri, nnlloq. forabilis ictu — [169-170.] 



The Swedes and y® Danes, & Norwegians are peremptory 
in this opinion still : and in the Parliament army were severall 
of these countreys that avowed they had that Preservative, sc. 
against a sword. I have heard from some Brokers (that buy 
old eloathes), that in the time of these warres they found in 
severall eloathes of soldiers they bought, Sigills in metall, w*^^ 
they wore about them as Preservatives. — See Corn. Agrippa, 
&c., de Sigillis : so. certain mysterious Numbers. 

Stagges Homes. 

in alta 



Quae fnerant pinu, votiyi comna cervi. — Fab. 6 [Lib. xii.] , Fab. [4, 266-267]. 

Mr. Lancelot Moorehouse (Westmorland), told me a story 
that some where in that north country upon an Oke were fixt a 
Stagges home, w*^^ in process of time grew into the oke (i) the 
oke had inclosed the roote of them; but he has seen the stumpes 
w®^ weather & time had curtaild. The Tradition was that a 
Greyhound had coursed the stag a matter of xxx miles, and at 
this place the Stagge & Greyhound fell-downe both dead ; and 
in a plate of lead was writt thus : 

Here Hercules kilPd Hart-of-grease, 
And Hart-of-grease kilPd Hercules. 

The Hercules and Hart of grese is in Whinfield-park, in 
Westmorland. From Mr. Edmund Gibson, of Queen's College, 
in Oxford, who is that country-man; as concerning the time he 
has not yet ftdly enformed himselfe : but he will in some short 
time acquaint me ; he intended to have inserted it in his anno- 
tations of his Chronicon Saxonicum, but that 

Horn-church in Essex hath its denomination from v® Homes 
of a Hart that happened to be killed by a Kings Dogges neer the 
church as it was building : and the Homes were putt in the wall 
of y® church. Mr. . . . Estcot, a gent, commoner 1647 of 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 77 

Trin. Coll. Oxou. went to school there, and sayd y* the stumps 
of y® Homes were extant in his time.^ 

The Foresters of y® Newe-forest in Hants, came annually to 
St. Lukes Chapel at Stoke- Verdon (a Hamlet in y® parish of 
Broad Chalke in Wilts.) with oflFerings, that their Deer and 
cattel might he blesst. I have a conceit, that there might be 
dedicated and hung up in that chapell (now demolished) some 
homes of stagges that were greater than ordinary : and the like 
at St. Lukes Chapell, at Turvey Acton in Gloucestershire, by y® 
Keepers and Foresters of Kingswood Forest. 

Squires. 
Armiger ille tni fuerat genitoris, Achille. — [Lib. xii. 363.] 

Slieilds. [See p. 69.] 

Snrgit ad hos clypei dominns septemplicis Ajax 



cljpens Tasti coelatns imagine mundi. 



iste tans, tarn raro pr»lia passus, 



Integer est cljpens ; nostro, qni tela ferendo 
Mille patet plagis, novns est snccessor habendus. 



neq. enim clypei coelamina norit, 



Oceannm, et terras, cnmq. alto sydera coelo, 
Fle'iadasq. Hyadasq. immnnemq. seqnoris Arcton, 
Diversasq. nrbes, nitidnmq. Ononis ensem. 

Lib. xiii. fab. 1 [2, 110, 117-119, 291, 294]. 

Perfumes in Churches. 

Thnre dato flamnus, vinoq. in thnra profnso. — Lib. xiii. fab. 4 [636]. 

Those that write of Spirits and Magique affirme that the good 
spirits are delighted with Perfumes and cleanlines, as y® evill 
spirits love stinking smells^ Aconite &c. 

\_Herb8 as Charms in Duels,'] 

nnm snccns fecerit herbse. — [Lib. xiii. 941.] 

Heretofore when a trial was to be decided per Duellum, 
before they two -j nQml&tants (^^^®°g*g®^^® Herald gave them 

> [Mr. Thorns says: — " On the Hart's Horn Tree in Whinfell Park, see the Rev. 
J. Hodgson's Westmoreland, 8vo. 1814 (Beauties of England and Wales), 
p. 105. On the yarions conjectnres respecting Homchnrch, see Gent Mag. 
xcviii. 1, 306." Ed.] 



78 BEMA1NS OF GENTILISME. 

an Oath, to confesse whether they had about them any Charme, 

or Herb. 

I remember one of y® heralds (I think S* George or ... . 
Segar) has writt a Booke wherein he speakes of the Formality 
and Heraldique lawes of TriaU per duellum : where this and 
more is mentioned. 

Masses for y* Dead, 

Sacrificat, tnmnliimq. sni genitoris honorat.— Lib. ziy. [84.] 

Ale.} 

misceri tosti jubeth ordea grani, 



Mellaq. yimq. meri, et cnm lacte coagnla passo. 

Qniq. sub hac lateant fnrtim dnlcedine, snccos 

Adjicit. [Lib. xiy. 273-276.] 

S' Walter Raleigh in his Historie saieth, that he that was the 
Inventor of making of Malt, was a person of great witt, & an 
excellent Chemist, for without Malt, Ale or Beer is not to be 
made : boyle the Barley never so much. 

Right hand. 
accipimns sacrfl data pocnla dextra.— [Lib. xiy. 276.] 

This is also the modem fashion : and a piece of ill manners to 
give one his left hand. 

Inde fides, dextraeq. datsa, ibid. [297.] 

C. Tacitus. Lib. i. p. 68, Cenx de Langres Inj ayoient enyoye, selon la cons- 
tnme, nn present de denx maines entrelac^s, en signe d' Alliance. 

Lib. ii. p. 106. II arma ensoite les esclayes les pins robnstes, des depoiiilles 
de qnelqnes marchands^ et essaja par diyers moyens de commipre le Centnrion 
Sicenna, depeche par Parmee de Syrie yers les Cohortes Pretoriennes, ponr lenr 
porter le symbole de denx mains entre-lacees, en signe de concorde et aUiance. 

Miserat Ciyitas Lingonn', yetere institnto dono Legionibns, dextras hospitis 
intigne. Tacit. Hist. Lib. ii. 

Centnrionemq. Sisennam dextras concordia insignie Syriaci exercitns 

nomine ad Fr»torianos ferentem, yarijs artibns aggressns est — y. J. Lipsins's 
Notes. 



■ Set this in the margent, being foreign to Gentilism. 



REMAINS OF GEKTILISME. 79 

In the chapell of Priory S* Maries, a Nunnery, in the pish 
of Kington S* MichaBl, in Wiltshire, was found, 1637, a stone 
b'ke a grindstone of about sixteen inches diameter, in the center 
whereof was a heart held by two right hands. 

The draught of the Stone 

found in the Priory Chapel of 

[Here is a figure.] Kington S* Mary, founded by 

Mawd the Empresse. 
I have seen some Eings made for Sweet-hearts with a Heart 
enamelld held between two right hands. See an epigrame of 
Gr. Buchanan on two Rings that were made by Q. Elizabeths 
appointment, w*^^ being layd one upon the other shewed the 
like figure. The Heart was 2 Diamonds, w^^ joined made the 
Heart. Q. Eliz. kept one moeitie, and sent y® other as a Token 
of her constant Friendship to Mary Q. of Scotts ; but she cutt 
of her Head for all that.^ 



prima pntatnr 



Hostia sns memisse mori: quia semina pando 
Ernerit rostro, spemq. interceperit anni. 
Yite caper morsd Bacchi mactatos ad aras 
Dncitur ultoriB. — Lib. xv. fab. 2 [112-116]. 

Poi'tents. 

Tristia mille locis Stjgins dedit omina bnbo: 
Mille locis lacrymavit ebor: cantnsq* femntnr 
Anditi, Sanctis et verba minantia lucis. 
Victima nulla litat, magnosq. instare tnmnltns 
Fibra monet, csesmnq. capnt reperitur in extis. 
Inq. foro, circnmq. domos, et templa deomm 
Noctnmos nlulasse canes, nmbrasq. silentom 
Erravisse fernnt, motamq. tremoribus nrbem. — 

Fab. 51 [791-798J. 

Prayers to departed Saints. 

Accedat coelo; fayeatq. precantibns absens. — 

Ibid. [870.] 

Similes preces pro salute Claudij Csesaris habet Senec. Lib. i. 
de Consul, ad. Polyb. Plin. in fine Paneyr. pro Trajan. 

* [See Appendix.] 



80 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Spittle. 

'Tis a common use in London, and perhaps over great part 
of England, for Apple-woemen, Oyster-woemen, Ac, & some 
Butchers, to spitt on the money w*^^ they first recieve in the 
morning, w®^ they call good handsell. — v. pag. [42] the Irish 
custome. 

ViRGILIJ EOLOG. 

Sepe malum hoc nobis (si mens non liera foisset) 

De coelo tactas memini prodicere qaercns. 

S»pe sinistra caya prsedixit ab ilice comix. — [i. 16-18.] 

Fascinating eiea. 

Nescio qnis, teneros ocnlos mihi fascinat agnos. — [iii. 103.] 

Some persons eies are very offensive: non possum dicere 
quare ; there is aliquid Divinum in it, more than every one 

understands. I have heard a \ g °^. , \ merchant saye, that in 

Spaine they are very shie, and wary, who they let looke on 
their Childrens eies for feare of this. 'Twas reported of one 
in N. W. that he had such urentes oculos, thut he bewitched his 
owne cattel, sit fides pene. 

Adorning of Fountaines, 

Spargite hnmnm folijs: inducite fontibns umbras, 
Pastores [v. 40, 41.] 

EviU Tongue, 

Hsec tibi semper enmt, et cum solennia yota 

Beddemns Nymphis, et cmn Instrabimns agros. — [y. 74-75.] 

In Germany when some come which are not very good 
friends, or doe not like them and praise the children, the 
Parents or Nurse do not love to heare it, and for a remedie 
thereof, that it may doe no hurt to the children, they imme- 
diately give bad language to them, &c. 

Ant si nltra placitnm land&rit, baccare frontem 

Cingite, ne yati noceat mala lingua fntnro. — [yii. 27, 28.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 81 

M' W. Lilly in his Astrologie has a discourse concerning 
those that labour under, an Ul-tonguey and prescribes a medicine 
for it, of Unguentum populeum, Ac: qd. vide, and he delivers 
Astrologicall Bules to discover it [see p. 12]. 

Focala bina novo spumantia lacte qnot annis 
Craterasq. dnos statnam tibi pingais oliyi. — [y. 67, 68.] 

Ho^ ho, hOy of Robin-ffoodfellow. 

Mdm. Virgil speakes somewhere (I think in y® Georgiques) 
of Voyces heard louder than a Man's. Mr. Lancelot Morehouse 
did averre to me, super verbum sacerdotis, that he did once heare 
such a loud laugh on the other side of a hedge, and was sure 
that no Human voice could afford such laugh. 

This relates something to page [84 and 86] Robin Groodfellow.^ 

Rymers. 



Fastorem, TityrOi pingaes 



Fascere oportet oves, dednctum dicere carmen. — Eel. yi. [4, 5]. 

Before the Civil warres in Staffordshire, at & about Coventrey 
Warwickshire, and those parts, there went along with the Fidlers, 
Rymers (who perhaps were Fidlers too), that upon any subject 
given would versifie extempore halfe an houre together.^ Tarle- 
ton the Comedian. This it seemes was in fashion amongst the 
arcadian shepherds (Polybius sayes that all the Arcadians were 
musicall). 

Et cantare pares, et respondere parati. 



Altemis igitnr contendere yersibns ambo 

Ccepere: altemos Musse meminisse yolebant. — Eclog. yii. [6, 18, 19.] 

These Eymers were of great antiquiiy in England^ as appeares 
by many Families called by that name: and like enough the 
custome was deriv'd from the old Bards. In Wales are some 
Bards still who have a strange gift in versyfying: but the fitt 
will sometimes leave them, and never retume again. The vulgar 
sort of people in Wales have a humour of singing extempore 
upon occasion : e. g. certain Gentlemen coming to ... . 

» [See "Miscellanies," pp. 106-111.] 

' From Ellas Ashmole, Esq. and Mr Joyner. 

G 



82 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 



the woemen that were washing at y® river fell all a singing in 
Welsh, w®** was a description of y* men and their horses.^ 

Hie focus et tsdse pingaes; hie plnrimns ignis 

Semper, et assidui postes fnligine nigri. — ^Eclog. yii [49» 60.] 

Mopse, noYfts incide faces; tibi dncitnr uxor: 
' Sparge, marite, naces. — ^Eclog. yiii. [28, 29.] 

Effer aqnam, et molli cinge haec altaria yitta; 
Verbenasq. adole pingnis, et mascola thnra. 
Conjugis nt magicis sanos ayertere sacris 
Experiar sensns.— [lb. 64-67.] 

[Herbs used against enchantments,^ 

Verraine and Dill 

Hinder witches from their will. — Dodonaens Herball. 

Hypericon (St. John's Wort) is Fuga Daeponum.^ 

Truelaves knotts and knotts v/" grasse. 

Tema tibi haec primnm triplici di?ersa colore 

Licia circnmdo, terq. haec altaria circnm 

Effigiem (sc. amatoris) duco. Numero dens impare gandet 



Necte tribns nodis temos, Amarylli, colores: 

Necte, Amarylli, modo; et, Veneris, die yincula necto. 

Eclog. viii. [73-5, 77, 78.] 

A true loves knott. 

Turn /3 about a as loose 

as you can, and then a over 

/8 likewise. This is a kind 

of Divination used by young 

virgins.^ They have told me 

they have tryed it and seen 

it. tryed severall times, but 

severall times also they have 

not seen it doe. Penrud. 

To Divine if your Mistress love you: and y® like for a woman. 

Take two blades of green Qrasse folded in each other as in the 

figure : and then putt in your bosome or neck, while one can say 

* From Mr. Andr. Middleton. * [See Appendix.] 

■ [Clare (" Shepherd's Calendar") speaks of young girls as — 
" Oft making love-knots in the shade 
Of bine-green oat, or wheaten blade." — ^Ed.] 




REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 83 

» 

3 pater nosters ; and all y® while you are folding it and wearing 
it you must thinke of her that you love: and if she loves you the 
grass will be changed as in the figure (i), y® grasses will not be 
mutually lock't together as when folded up. 

Magich 

Limns ut hie dnrescit, et haec nt cera liquescit 

Uno eodemq. igni; sic nostro Daphnis amore. 

Sparge molam, et fragiles incende bitnmine lauros.^[£cl. viii. 80-82.] 

Has olim exnvias mihi perfidns ille reliqnit, 

Fignora chara sni; quae nunc ego, limine in ipso, 

Terra, tibi mando; debent haec pignora Baphnin. — ^Ibid. [91-93.] 

Has herbas, atq. hsec Ponto mihi lecta venena 
Ipse dedit Mceris; nascnntnr plnrima Ponto, 
His ego s»pe Inpnm fieri, et se condere sylvis 
Moerin, sepe animas imis excire sepnlchris, 
Atq. satas alio vidi tradncere messes. 

Ibid [95-99], Vide Warwonlfe, p. [66.] 

Invoking the Moon. 

Tell sacred Moon what first did raise my flame, 
And whence my Pain and whence my Passion came. 

Theocrit. Idylllnm ii. y. p. 14, part 1st. 

In Yorkeshire &c. northwards, some country woemen doe 
worship the New Moon on their bare knees, kneeling upon an 
earth-fast steane (i) stone. And the people of Athol, in the 
High-lands in Scotland, doe worship the New Moon. — v. de hoc, 
Blau's Adas in Scotland, q* N.B.— [See pp. 36 and 142.] 

Per cineres, Amarylli, foras, rivoq. flnenti 

Transq. capnt jace; nee respexeris; ^ his ego Daphnin 

Aggrediar; nihil ille deos, nil carmina (charmes) cnrat 

[EcL vui. 101-103.] 

At morning-peep soon qnench y« blazeing wood 

And scatter all the Ashes ore the flood. 

And thence return, but with a steddy pace. 

Nor looke behind on the poUnted place: 

Then let pnre Brimstone pnrge the Rooms and bring 

Clear Fountain water from the sweetest Spring, 

This mixt with Salt, with blooming Oliyes crowned 



^ Quia fere se nolnnt numina videri, 

o2 



84 REMATNS OF GENTILISME. 

Spread ore the Floor, and purge polluted ground. 
Then kill a Bore to Joye, that free from harms 
The Child may live, and Victoiy crown his arms. 

Y. Theocritus, Idyllinm zziiL 

Aspice: corripuit tremulis altaria flammis 

Sponte sua (dum ferre moror) cinis ipse. Bonu sit ! 

Nescio quid oertd est: et Hjlax in limine latrat. — [£cl. yiii. 105-107.] 

Quod nisi me quacunq. novas incidere litis 

Ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice comix: 

Nee tuus hie Moeris, nee yiveret ipse Menalcas. — ^Eclog. ix. [14-16.] 

Dressing of Fountaines. 

Quis caneret Nymphas? quis humum florentibus herbis 
Spargeret ? aut yiridi fontis induceret umbra? — [lb. 19-20.] 

Modem custome of rustick Lovers. 

tenerisq. meos incidere amores 

Arboribus: crescent illse, crescetis, amores. — [Eel. x. 53, 54.] 

Georgio. Lib. L 
Robin Goodfellow. \_Seepp. 81, 86.] 

Et yos, agrestum prsBsentia numina, Fauni, 

Ferte simul fauniq. pedem Dryadesq. puellffi.— Gleorg. lib. i. [10, 11.] 

Vos quoq. plebs Superum, Fauni, Satiriq., Laresq., 
Fluminaq, et Nymphce, Semideumq. genus. — Oyid in Ib'm. [81, 82.] 

The Fauns axe accounted the Country Gods and are thought 
alwaies to inhabit the woods. The first of them was Faunus, 
King of y^ Aborigines, the sonne of Picus, and grand-child of 
Saturn, who first reduced y® Inhabitants of Italy to civil life ; he 
built houses, and consecrated woods. From him ('tis likely) 
comes our Bobin Goodfellow. 

yotisq. yocayeris imbrem. — [157.] 

Commons. 

Ante Joyem nulli subigebant arya coloni: 
Nee signare quidem aut partiri limite campum 
Fas erat: in medium quterebant. — [125-127.] 

Sc. all in common, e. g 



;;■ II I !<■ I ^lyuBv^-^pBivig^v^ Ml wi^t^^i^Hpqp^^pwq^qp^w^pi^gpv^i 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 85 

Time alnos primnm flnvii sensere cavatas. — [136.] 

So the Curricles in Wales : sc. the old British boates made of 

« 

Osiers, like a basket, and covered w** leather. 



etiam festis qnaedam exercere diebns 



Fas et jnra sinnnt: rivos dedacere nnlla 

Belligio vetuit, segeti prastendere ssBpem, 

Insidias ayibns moliri, incendere vepres, 

Balantumq' gregem fluvio mersare salubri, &c.— [268-272.] 



Observations of the Moon* 

Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine Luna 

Felices opernm: qnintam fage; pallidas Orcns, 

Emnenidesq' sat» 

« « « « 

Septnma post decimam felix, et ponere vitem, 
Et prensos domitare boves, et licia telse 
Addere: nona fngae melior, contraria fartis. 

* * * * 



presses enm jam tetigere cariiue, 



Pnppibns et Iseti nantae imposnere coronas. 

[276-8, 284-6, 303, 304.] 

A Proverbial Verse. 

Tertia quinta qnalis est Inna tota talis. 

According to the Rules of Astrologie, it is not good to under- 
take any Businesse of importance in the new of the moon : and 
not better just at the Full of the moon : but worst of all in an 
Eclipse : and as to Nativities this is very remarkable. 

Cerealia. 

Sacra refer Cereri Istis operatas in herbis, 

Extremse snb casnm hyemis, jam yere sereno. 

Tnnc agni pingnes, et tnnc mollissima vina. — [339-341.] 

Portents. 

Tempore qnanqnam illo tellns qnoq', et sequora ponti, 
Obscceniq' canes, importnnseq' volacres 



86 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Signa dabant. Qnoties Cydopnm efferrere in agros 

Vidimns nndantem ostis fomacibns Mtnam, 

Flammammq' globos liqnefactaq' YoWere saxa ! &c. — [469-473.] 



• • • 



See N. Machiavel's Discourses upon Titus Livius, lib. . 
He (who was no superstitious man) sayes to this purpose, that 
so it is, That oftentimes before Changes in Government doe 
happen Portents, e. g.; in my Time, on the first day of the Sitting 
of y« Parliament 1641, at St. Trenchards, at Lickyat in Dorset, 
as they were at dinner, the scepter fell out of the king's (Ch. L) 
hand in Playster in the Hall. At his Triall the head of his Cane 
fell off. Before Oliver Pr: death a great Whale came to 
Greenwich as ako (they say this soiner 1688). At K. James IP 
retulning fro Westm. Abbey when he was crowned, a puff of 
wind tore the canopy carried over Him by y* Wardens of the 
Cinque ports. 'Twas of Cloath of gold & my strength (I am 
confident could not have rent it) and it was not a windy day. 

Gborg. Lib. IL 

Miscueruntq' herbas, et nonannoxia verba. — [129; also III. 283.] 

Wafers, 

Ergo rite sniun Baccho dicemns honorem 

Carminibus patriis, lancesq' etliba wafers feremus.— [393, 394.] 

RoMn-GoodfelloWj 8fc. \_Seepp. 81, 84.] 



decs qui novit agrestes, 



Fanaq' Sylvanumq' aenem Nymphasq' sorores. — [493, 494.] 

Ipse dies agitat festos: fnsnsq' per herbam, 
Ignis nbi in medio, et socij cratera coronant, 
Te, libans, Lense, vocat: pecorisq' magistris 
Velocis jacnli certamina ponit in nimo; 
Corporaq' agresti nndat prsednra palestra. 

Georg. Lib. IIL 

Charmesy to bewitch. 
Puniceieve agitant pavidos formidine pennse. — [372.] 



BEMAmS OF GENTILISME. 87 



Hie noctem Indo dncnnt, et pocula ksti 

Fermentoq' atq' acidis imitantnr vitea aorbis.— [378, 380.] 

High-^ldGes, 
■ ductos alta ad donaria cumis.— [533.] 



Georg. Lib. IIII. 
Swarming of Bees. 

Tinnitnsq' cie, et Matris qnate cymbala circmn. — [64.] 

We use this Custome still. JuA so in Germany likewise. 

\_The number three J\ 

Ter liqnido ardentem perfndit nectare Yestam: 

Ter flamma ad smmnmn tecti snbjecta relnxit. — [384, 385.] 

Thrice^ thrice I ponr, and thrioe repeat my charmes. 

Theocriti IdjUinm ii. 

Mat Nayler was advis'd by the witch when she made her 
escape, to leape over a Rivulet three times. 

A counter charme, 

Bnt least she charme me, I haye murm/UT'd thrice, 
Spit thrice; for old Cotjtto tanght me this. 

Theocritns Idyllimn yi. 

Terqne senem flamma, ter aqud, ter snlphnre Instrat. 

Ovid's Metamorph. lib. yii. — [261.] 

Vanishing of Ghosts. 

ipsa procnl nebnlis obscura resistit. 

'- et ex ocnlis snbito, cen fnmis in anras 



Commixtns tennis fngit diversa: neq* illnm 
Prensantem neqnicqnam nmbras, et mnlta Yolentem 
Dioere, prsterea yidit 



mnnera snpplex 



Tende, petens pacem, et faciles yenerare Napseas. 

[424, 499-502, 630, 631.] 



88 REMAINS OF GENTILISMK. 

Diriges, 
Inferias Orphei lethiea papaTora mittes 



Et nigram mactabis oyem [646, 647.] 

InferiiB diet aacrificia que inferis solyimtxir, qnte dijs manibiu inferebant atqne 
ad mortaorn' aepnlchras inferebantnr. 

Sacrifices donne to y® infemall Gkxls for them that be dead : 
a Dirige, or Masse for the dead. 

Chriatmas. 

Jamdadnm anscnlto, et cnpiens tibi dicere semiB 

Panca, reformido, Daynsne? Ita, Davus, amicnm 

Mancipimn domino, et fmgi, qnod sit satis: hoc est 

Ut Titale pates. Ag^, libertate Decembri, 

Qnando ita majores yoluenint, ntere. — Horat lib. ii. satjr. 7. [1-6.] 

Hoc mense Decembri, cum Saturnalia celebrentnr, inqnit dominns, serris loqni 
liceat, qnicquid libet— >Bond. 

Mr. Jo. Seldens Table- Tcdke. 

'M. Christmas succeeds the Saturnalia, the same time, the 
same number of Holydaies; then the Master waited upon y® 
servant like y® Lord of Misrule. 

" 2. Our Meates and our Sports (much of them) have relation to 
Church-works. The CoflBn our Christmas-Pies in shape long, in 
imitation of the Cratch, our choosing Kings and Queens on Twelth 
night, hath reference to the three Kings. So likewise our 
eating Fritters, whipping of Tops, Boasting of Herrings, Jack-of- 
Lents, &c. ; they were all in imitation of Churchworks, Emblems 
of Martyrdom. Our Tansies at Easter have reference to the 
bitter Herbs ; though at the same time 'twas always the Fashion 
for a Man to have a Gammon of Bacon, to shew himself to be 
no Jew." 

See in the Preface before my lib. A (about y* end) where are 
Bemarkes concerning the K. and Q. of y® Beane, of Bp. and Abbot 
and Prior : and of y« Child Bp. whose monum* is in Salisbury 
church, who died in his Episcopate : of y® Lord of Misrule, Mr. 
Purchase in his Pilgrimage derives it fro y® Persians, 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISME, 89 



Mmelto} 
Vulgar Errors, lib. ii., 1-6. 

As for y® magical fluids of this plant, and concieved efficacy 
unto veneficial intentions, it seemeth a Pagan relique derived 
from the ancient Druides, the great admirers of Oak: especially 
the Misselto that grew thereon : w*^ according to y* particular 
of Pliny they gathered with great solemniiy. For after 
Bacrifice, ihe Priest in a white garment ascended the Tree, cut 
downe the Misselto with a golden hook, and recieved it in a 
white coate ; the virtue whereof was to resist all poisons, and 
make fruitinl any that used it. Vertues not expected from das- 
sical practice ; and did they ftdly answer their promise w*^ are 
so commended, in Epileptical intentions we would abate these 
qualities. Country practice hath added another, to provoke after 
birth, and in that case the decoction is given unto Cows. That 
y® Berries are poison, as some concieve, we are so far from 
averring that we have safely given y™ inwardly ; and can con- 
firm the experim* of Brassavolus, that they have some purgative 
qualify. 

Au-guy-lan-neuf. The voice of Country people begging small 
presents, or New year's gifts, in Christmas: (an ancient tearme 
of rejoycing, derived from the Druides ; who were wont, the 
first of January, to goe into the Woods, where having sacrificed, 
and banqueted together, they gathered mistletow, esteeming it 
excellent to make Beasts fruitftill, and most soveraigne against 
all poyson. — Cotgrave's French Dictionary. 

That Bayes will protect from y® mischief of Lightning and 
Thunder, is a quality ascribed thereto, cofnon with the Fig-tree, 
Eagle, and skin of a Seal. Against so famous a quality, Vice- 
comerantus pduced the experiment of a Bay-tree blasted in Italy. 

We dresse our Houses at Christmas, with Bayes, and hange 
up in the Hall, or &c., a Misselto-bough ; 'tis obvious to ghesse 
how 'tis derived downe to us. 

* Missel is masse. 



90 BEMAINS OF GENTIUSHK. 



Lfttet arbore opaca 



Anrens et folijs et lento yimine ramus, 
Jnnoiii infenm dictns sacer : hone tegit omniB 
LncDs, et obscoris daadnnt oonyallibas nmbne. 
Sed non antd datnr teUnria opefta snbire, 
Anricomos qniUn qnis decerpserit arbore foetns. 
Hoc edbi pnlchra snum f erri Proserpina mnnns 
Instituit— Vig. iEneid, Lib. vi. [136-143.] 



Lotts. 

V. pag. [24.] 

Homerica. 

Scries 



r Homenca. 
< Virgiliann. 
( BibliccB. 



Sortes Biblicse were condemned hj a Councel.^ 

Sortes Virgilian* are in use stiU, but more beyond sea than 
in England; but perhaps heretofore as much here. As for 
Homer, Graecu est non potest legi ; for Greeke was not under- 
stood westwards of GreciaVtill after the taking of Constanti- 
nople ; but r Grecians did use the Homerican Sortilege. 

These divinations are performed after • this manner, viz. : the 
Party that has an earnest desire to be resolved in such an Event 
takes a pinne ; an thrusts it between the leaves of one of y« 
above said bookes, and choose w*'^ of the pages she or he will 
take, and then open the booke and begin to read at the begin- 
ning of y* period. The booke at the prickinge is held in another's 
hand. 

In December 1648, K. Charles the first being in great trouble, 
and prisoner at Caersbroke, or to be brought to London to his 
Triall ; Charles Prince of Wales, being then at Paris, and in 
profound sorrow for his father, Mr. Abraham Cowley wente to 

< ^^ c him ; his Highnesse asked him whether he would 
l wayte on J ° 

play at Cards, to diverte his sad thoughts. Mr. Cowley replied, 

he did not care to play at Cards ; but if his Highnesse pleasd, 

* q. Mr. Ho. Dodwell what Councell ? Besp: ride Gratianum. 



REMAINS OF QENTILISME. 91 

they would use Sortes Virgilianae (Mr. Cowley alwaies had a 
Virgil in his pocket) ; the Prince accepted the proposal, and 
prick't his pinne in tihe fourth booke of the -^neids at this 
place : 

At bello andacis populi yexatns et armis, 

Finibns extorris, complexu avulsus lull, 

Aoxilium imploret, videatq. indigna suornm 

Funera; nee, cnm se sab leges pacis miqnsQ 

Tradiderit, regno ant optata luce froatnr. 

Sed cadat ante diem mediaq. inhnmatns arena.— [616-620.] 

The Prince understood not Latin well, and desired Mr. Cowley 
to translate the verses, w*^^ he did admirably well, and w^^ Mr. 
Geo. Ent (who lived in his house at Chertsey, in the great 
plague 1665) shewed me of Mr. Cowley's owne hand writing. I 
am sorry I did not take a copie of them.^ It is good while since 
I sawe them. I thinke the pinne was put about Et si fata 
Jovis poscunt £1. 614] — ^, but for want of Mr. Cowley's I 
will sett downe Mr. Ogilby's : 

Let him be vext with a bold people's war, 
Exil*d, forc't from his son's embrace ; may he 
Seeke aid, and his owne friends sad funerals see. 
Nor when dishonour^ peace he makes with them, 
Let him lov'd-life enjoy, or Diadem : 
Bnt die before his dcuy^ the %cmd his grave, 
And with my blond this last request I crave. 

Now, as to y« last part, " the sand his graxie^^ 1 well remember, 
it was frequently and soberly affirmd, by officers of y® army, 
&c. Grandees, that y® body of King Charles the First was pri- 
vately putt into the Sand about White-hall ; and the coffin that 
was carried to Windsor and layd in K. Hen. 8*^'* vault was 
filled with rubbish, or brick-batts. Mr. Fab. Philips, who 
adventured his life before y« Kings Tryall, by printing, assures 
me, that the Kings Coffin did cost but six shillings: a plain 
deale coffin.^ 

' Search for it amongst Mr. Ents papers in y« Library of y® R. Soc. 
2 Charles 1st was but 58 when he dyed. 
' [See Appendix.] 



92 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

'Twas this place : 

ViBo. JEsmD, UB. 4 [616]. 

Andacifl popoli bello, &c. 
By a bold people's stabborn armes oppres't, 
Forc't to forsake y* land he once posaess't, 
Tom from his dearest sonnes, let him in vain 
Seeke helpe and see his friends nnjnstly slain. 
Let him to base unequal termes snbmit 
In hope to save his crown, yet loose both it 
And life at once, untimely let him dy, 
And on an open stage nnburied ly. 

Translated for K. Ch: II. by Mr. Abraham Cowley. 

Stat dnctis sortibns uma. Virg. 6 [22]. 

placoit celeste precari 

Numen, et anxilium per sacras qnserere sortet, 

Ovid, Metam. 1. [367-8.] 

At Wanborough in Wiltshire is a Lott-meade, where is 
great meriment every yeare ; also there a Lot-meade at Sutton- 
Benger, in the said countie, which mannor did belong to Malmes- 
bury Abbey : as (I thinke) Marborough also did.^ 

'Tis a common way of Divination, in the Country, to take the 
sheath of a knife (most commonly), or an arrow, and dimbe up 
with their fingers from the bottom to the top, e.ff., whether such 
a one will come to their house this night or not ? Every one 
has seen it. 

There seemes to be something like this in Hosea, ch. iv. v. 
12, " My people aske counsell at their stocks, and their stafe 
declareth unto them " 

'Tis common for two to breake the Merrythought of a chick- 
hen, or wood-cock, &c., the Anatomists call it Clavicula ; ^ 'tis 
called the merrythought, because when the fowle is opened, dis- 
sected, or carv'd, it resembles the pudenda of a woman. " The 
furcula^ or merry -ihcmght^ in birds, which supporteth the scapulae, 
aflfprding a passage for the windpipe and gullet." — S' Tho. 
Brown, in the " Quincunx naturally considered." 

» [See Appendix.] ^ Qy. Dr. Tyson. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 93 

The manner of breaking it, as I have it from the woemen, 
is thus : viz. One puts y® merrithought on his nose (slightly) 
like a paire of spectacles, and shakes his head till he shakes it 
off his nose, thinking all the while his Thought ; then he holds 
one of the legs of it between his forefinger and Thumbe, and 
another hold the other in like manner, and breake it ; he that 
has the longer part, has got the Thought ; then he that has got 
the thought putts both parts into his hand, and the other drawes 
(by way of Lett), and then they both Wish, and he that lost his 
Thought drawes ; if he drawes the longest part, he has [gets] his 
wish, if the shorter he looses his Wish. 

This custome is used not only in England, but in Germanic ; 
from Mr. Christian Smyth, of Berlin, in Brandenburgh. He also 
sales that y® divination by a knife or straight stick measured by 
the thumbes, He comes, he comes not, &c. is used in Germanic. 

The breaking the Merrythought is in use in Anhalt, in Ger- 
many, but without putting it on the nose and without thinking 
anything, but they breake it only to get some thing from him 
that looseth it 

" Samuel, by God's appointment, first anointed Saul very pri- 
vately, and after, in a ftdl assembly of the people at Mispeh, 
evidenced him to be the man whom God had chosen by the 
determination of a ht} — 1 Sam. 11." 

Candlemas Day. 

There are certain popular prognosticks drawn from Festivals 
in the Kalendar, and conceived opinions of certain dales in the 
months;^ so there is a general tradition in most parts of 
Europe that inferreth y® coldness of succeeding winter from the 
shining of the sun upon Candlemas day, according to the 
pverbial distich. 

Si Sol splendescat Maria pnrificante 

Major est glacies post festom qnam fait ante. 

In Germany they looke upon the breast-bone of a Qt)ose (sc. 
when the fiesh is taken off either boiled or rested), and when the 



* Dr. Sanderson's 3* sermon ad magistrati, vol. 1, pag. 377. 
' Enquiries into Vulgar Errors, book vi. chap. iy. p. 239. 



94 ' BEICAINS OF GENTILISME. 

fore part of the bone that resteth in the midst is brown it 
signifies an hard winter at the beginning, but if the last part of 
it is so, then after Christmas will be a great cold till the end, 
but when the bone is pale or white then little or no winter at all 
will bee. 

So it is usual among us to qualifie or oonditionate the xii. 
months of the yeare, answerably unto the temper of the xii. 
dales in Xhnas, and to ascribe unto March certain, all w^ men 
believe upon some borrowed experience of their owne and 
recieved tradition of y forefathers. 

Now, the Calendars of these computers are very different ; y® 
Greekes dissenting from the Latins, & the Latins from each 
other, y* one observing y® Julian, the other y® Gregorian 
account ; now this latter account by ten dayes at least antici- 
pateth the others : yet in the several calculations y® same events 
seeme true, and men with equal opinion of verity, expect, and 
confesse a confirmation from them all. Whereby is evident the 
oraculous authority of tradition, and the easie seduction of Men, 
neither enquiring into y« verity of the substance, nor reforming 
upon repugnance of circumstance. And thus may divers be 
mistaken who superstitiously observe certain times, or set down 
unto themselves an observation of unfortunate months, or 
daies, or houres ; as did the -^Egyptians, two in every month, 
and the Komans the days after the Nones, Ides, and Calends. 
And thus the Rules of Navigators must often fail, setting 
down, as Rhodiginius observeth, suspected and ominous daies 
in every Month, as the first and seventh of March, the fifth 
and sixth of April, the twelfth and fifteenth of February. 
For the accounts hereof in these months are very different 
in our daies, and were different with several nations in ages 
past. 

Mdm, the old verse so much observed by Countrey-people : 

." If Paul's day be faire and cleare 
It will betyde a bappy yeare." 

Clara dies Fanli bona tempora denotat anni : 
Si f uerint yenti, designant prselia genti. 
Si nix ant pluvia designant tempora cava. 
Si fnerint Nebulas pereunt Animalia quseque 



REMAINS OP GENTILISMB. 95 

£t sant hie multii qui credunt omnia stnlti. 
Et si vult Dominns, convertit is omnia solns.^ 

Proverb : " April borroweth three daies of March, and they 
are iU."* 

On Candlemas-night hang your Smock a Charcoale fire, Ac. 

On New Year's-eve night, sift (or smooth) the Ashes and leave 
it so when you goe to Bed ; next morning looke and if you find 
there the likenesse of a Coffin, one will dye : if of a Ring one will 
be married. 

Hempe-seed I sow. 

And HempeHseed I mowe, 

And he that is my sweetheart come follow me, I trow. 

Mdm, green Hemp leaves will make one to be in the same con- 
dition with Dotroa.^ So Opium and Lachissa, which is made 
of green Hempe. From Mr. Wyld Clarke, merch^ and Factor 
at 8^ Crux in Barbaric. 

IVees. 

The Druides performed no sacred services without the leaves 
of Oak; and not only the Germans but the Greeks adorned their 
altars w*^ green leaves of Oak. In the rites performed to Ceres 
they were crowned w**^ Oak: in those to Apollo w*^ Bays: in those 
to Hercules w*^ Poplar : in those to Bacchus w^ Myrtle. Was not 
the Oak abused by the Druides to superstition ? And yet our 
late Eeformers gave order (w^^ was universally observed accord- 
ingly) for the Acorn, the fi'uit of the oak, to be set upon the top 
of their maces or crowns, instead of the Cross. Of happy 
presage to us that y® money w*^** bore such firuit should (like that 
in the plains of Mamre) serve for y® shelter of our earthly Angel 
K. Charles from the heat and fdry of rebellion till the Cross 
reassumed its place again upon the top of his crown. — H. Savage, 
Dew of Hermon, p. 16.— [W. K.] 

» [Cfr. Swainson's "Weather Folk-Lore," p. 35.] 

* [It is usually considered that March is the borrower. — See Swainson*s 
« Weather Folk-Lore," p. 65.] 

■ [The Tbomapple (Datura Stramonivm)^ called Deutroa in Fnrchas* 
**Pilgrime8" (ii. 1757), where an account of 'its intoxicating effects is given, 
and Dewtry in Butler's " Hudibras," b. iii. c. 1. — Ed.] 



96 REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 

ChancelU. 

Chancell ; called so from the Cancelli. This has some resem- 
blance of the aStrrov, or Sanctum Sanctormn of the Jews. 

[^Cheek burning. 1 
When ones' cheeke bums they'le say one is talk't of. 

Telismans. 

Consecrated Bells were Telismans^ e.g. St Adelm's Bell, at 
Malmesbury-abbey, w^ had y® power (as they believed) to 
drive away Thunder and lightning ; and when it did so, pre- 
sently that Bell was rung out. The great bell at y* Abbey of 
St. Germans at Paris, is rung for the same purpose on such 
occasions.^ When Church bells were cast heretofore it was donne 
with great ceremony and prayer, and an Inscription in the nature 
of a Charme was inscribed at the Brimme ; in Weaver's Funerall 
Monuments are severall sett downe, e.g. Andreas campana fiigiant 

quaecunq. profana plango fulgura frango. 

But the Astrologers their vertue to ? who is a friend to <f . 
and it must be cast at a certaine friendly aspect of both those 
planetts. 

Cocklebread.^ 

I have some reason to believe that the word cookie is an old 
antiquitated Norman word, w*^^ signifies a — e ; from a beastly 
rustique kind of play, or abuse, w°^ was use when I was a school- 
boy by a Norman Gardiner, that lived at Downton, neer me ; so 
hott cockles is as much as to say hott or heated buttocks or a — e. 
See and transcribe out of Dr. Francis Bernards .... Bur- 
chardus the (canonist and casuist), and printed A^ Dm 1549, at 
Colon. He lived before the Conquest. 

Cerealia. 

Mdm in Herefordshire, and also in Somersetshire, on Mid- 
sommer-eve, they make fires in the fields in the waies : sc. to 
Blesse the Apples. I have seen the same custome in Somerset, 

1 [See p. 22.] ' Refer this to pag. [43]. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 97 

1685, but there they doe it only for eustome-sake ; but I doe 
guesse that this custome is derived from the Gentiles, who did 
it in remembrance of Ceres her running up and dbwne with 
Flambeaux in search of her daughter Proserpina, ravisht away 
by Pluto ;^ and the people might thinke, that by this honour 
donne to y® Gk)ddesse of husbandry, that their Corne, &c. might 
prosper the better. 

Mdm y® sitting-up on Midsommer-eve in y® churche porch 
to see the Apparitions of those that should dye or be buried there, 
that yeare : mostly used by women : I have heard 'em tell strange 
stories of it. Now, was not Ceres mother-in-law to Pluto, King 
of the infernal Ghosts ? and Virgil makes -3Eneas to sacrifice 
a barren cowe to Proserpine for his trumpeter Misenus, " ste- 
rilemq. tibi, Proserpina, vaccam." ^ 



Vowing of Children by Barren Women. 

1 Samuel, ch. i. v. 11. And she vowed a vow, and said, 
Lord of Hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon y® affliction of 
thine handmayd and remember me, and not forget thine hand- 
maid, but will give unto thine handmaid a male child, then will 
I give him unto y® Lord all the daies of his life, and there shall 
no razor come upon his head. 

Mr. George Dickson, now Kector of Brampton, near North- 
ampton, was by his breeding mother devoted to the office of the 
ministry, to which he was bred and ordain'd, tho Heir to a 
plentifuU Estate.— [W: K.] 

In the Temple-church in London, is a Chapel on the south of 
the Round-about walkes, wherein now the Fines are conserved ; 

but it I ^^ [ y® chapelle dedicated to St. Anne: w^^ was much 

resorted to by barren women; and was of great repute for 
opening the womb. The Knights Templars were notable 
wenchers, for whose convenience and use the stewes on y® 
Bankside (over against the Temples) were erected and con- 

* V. Claudian de Baptu Proserp. 
•' Lib. vi. .ahieid [261]. 

H 



98 BEMAINS OF OENTIUSME. 

stitated. These were the Crosse-keys, the Popes Head, and 

r 

Mr. J. Selden had (what ever is become of it) the Orders or 
Statutes^ for the Gk>yerment of them, €.g. A woman was to lye 

but with 

&c. The old & true name of Fetter-lane was Fouter- 

lane, w^^ was also haunted by the Templars. 

So Mag Pie Lane in St Maries parish Oxford was antienly 
caUed Grope AUy.— [W.K.] 



High Phcea. 

V. Lev. 26, 30 ; destroy your high places. 
Numb. 21, 28 ; high places of Amon. 

32, [33], 52 ; pluck downe all their high places. 

1 Kings, 3, 2 ; sacrificed in the high places. 

2 Kings, 15, 4 ; incense still in the high places. 
Zach. [Ezek.] 6, 3 ; I'le destroy your high places. 

besides divers other texts. 

So we have St. Michaels mount, in Cornwall, and Glaston- 
bury Tor ; and in Bretaigne, in France is another St. Michaels 
Mount, whither pilgrims doe much resort, as they did also in old 
time to y® chapel on y® mount in ComwaL We have in several 
places in England churches and chapells built on high hills, e.g. 
at West Wycumb, in Bucks ; Winterflow, in Wilts ; Si Anne's 
Chapelle, in Surrey, S* Marthas capell on y® pico near Guild- 
ford, cum multis alijs ; mdm, S' William Dugdale told me, he 
observed, that where a Church or Chapel was dedicated to St. 
Michael that it either stood on a Hill, or els had a high steeple, 
e,g. St. Michaels in CornhilL 

Mdm the chapel with the tower, called Glastonbury-Tor, was 
dedicated to Saint Michael the Arch-Angel. It is seated on the 
top of a Pico, like a sugar-loafe, and is higher a good deale than 
the steeple of our Lady church, at Salisbury. 

St. Michael-how-chap, near Fountaines, Yorks. 

* Qy. A. W. if amongst his books in y^ library. 



BEMAINS OF GSNTILISME. 



*99 



Irish Cuatome, v. pag. [ ]. 
Virg. ^nead. Ub. iiii. [683-5.] 

Date vnlnera lymphis, 



Ablnam, et extremus siqnis super halitus errat, 
Ore legam. 

jjris Yenables (widowe of y® Baron Venables, of Kinderton) 
tells me that in North Wales (and I thinke in Cheshire adjoyning 
to it) they doe sett Dishes of meate on the CoflGin at a Funerall, 
and eato over the Defonct, [See pp. 23, 36.] 

Chiromantie. 
As old as Job. 

Job, " He hath not set the lines in the hand of man in 

vain." Job is the ancientest writer of y® old Testament, w®^ 

appeares thus : viz. there is mention of Abraham, and of the 

Flood : but no mention at all of Moyses ; q^ NB. 

Crests. 

Ipse inter primos prsBStanti corpore Tumus 
Vertitur, arma tenens, et toto yertice snpra est: 
Cni triplici crinita jnba galea alta Chimaeram 
Snstinet, Mtnsaoa efflantem f ancibns ignes. 

Virg. .fflneid. lib. yii. [783-6.] 

Mdm. Y® Turks use of Horse-tailes, by way of Ensigne. 



'Tis an old reciev'd opinion. That if two doe p — together 
they shall quarrell : or, If two doe wash their hands together, they 
will quarrell. 'Tis well known y* severall Chemicall, spirits and 

salts will operate at distance, sc. of foot, and being 

placed within that irradiation will fight : then how much easier 

it is for r atheriaU spiritta of men that j ^J^^i^^jf^etch 

. , , > to doe the like, 

others natures ) 

Names of y* Weeke-dayes, 

die Tjni die0«- d. D »»« d. <? "» d. d. Jovis d. i^. 

Saterday. Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. Wensday. Thursday. Fryday. 



In Welsh, thus 



H 2 



100 BEMAINS OF GEKTILISHE. 



y* Planetary Hours. 

De Diebus SeptimanaB insignia est et singularis apnd Dionem 
locus Libri 37 : sic enim ait ille. 



Dion Cassiusy Lib. 37.' 

To Sk Sff €9 ToO? aarepw; tov errra) tou? TrXai^TO?, k,t,\. " Id 
est ea interpretatione Xjlandri, quod autem dies ad septem 
sidera ilia quos planetas appellarunt referuntur, id ab -^Egyptijs 
baud ita dudum, ut paucis dicam, institutum ad omnes homines 
dimanavit. Nam priscis Grsecis, quantum mihi constat, notus 
hie mos nou fuit, et quem ad modum is nunc et apud omnes 
homines ubique et prsesertim apud Romanes usitatus est, paucis 
qua ratione et quo pacto ita institutus sit, differam. De quo 
duos sermones accepi baud ita difficiles cognitu, contemplationi 
tamen cuidam innitentes. Nam siquis harmoniam eam qusB 
diatessaron vocatur (quae alioquin in Physica prima obtinere 
creditur) etiam ad ista sidera quibus omnis cdeli ornatus constat, 
ita transferet, quem ad modum ordo conversionis uniuscujusq^ 
eorum exegit, facto% ab extreme ambitu quem Satumo tribuunt 
initio, dein proximo sequentes duos motus praeteriens quarti 
dominium recenseat, iterumq^ ab eo duobus proximo praeteritis ad 
septimam conversionem deveniat. Atq^ hoc mode diebus singulis 
eorum inspectores gubernatoresq^ Deos in orbem rediens deligat, 
assi^cneta. Is inveniet omnes dies MusicaB quadam ratione 
«»lf.uld,n,nUtr.t,.»i congroere. A^a, hi prior fert«, 
ratio. Altera hoc est. Horas tam diei quam noctis numen k 
prima incipiens eamq^ Saturno tribue, sequentum Jovi, tertiam 
Marti, quartam Soli, quintam Veneri, Mercuric sextam, septi- 
mam LunaB secundum ordinem erbium quem eo quo perhibui 
mode iEgyptijs tradunt, hocq, aliqupties facto ubi per viginti 
quatuor horas circumiveris, primam subsequentis diei horam 
invenies Soli obtingere. Jam si hujus quoque diei horas viginti 
quatuor eodem mode tractos, ad Lunam referes primam tertiae diei 

* Victae Opera. 1646, Varioru' de rebus, p. 362, c. 4. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 101 

horam. Sique eodem modo reliquos etiam dies percurreris, 
qusBvis dies sibi eongruentem Deum aceipiet. Atq^ haec quidem 
ita perhibentur." 

^Hare's Flesh.'] 

Leporis estis venustos reddit. 

" Quod autem quum veteres, turn recentiores persuasum 
habeat, ex leporis esu exhilarescere homines atq^ aliquid venu- 
statis, formaq^ elegantioris concipere, non ex meticulosi et pavidi 
animantis gustu id evenire ominor, sed quod festivi aliquot 
consodales convocare soleant in coetum et accubationem epularem 
puellas quasdam amabiles ac generosas, itaq^ illae, quae despectae 
habiles sunt ac deformes, nee unquam in hujusmodi consessum 
acciri contigit, inelegantes eenseri soleant, nee unquam de- 
gustasse leporem : quod Martialis non invonusto epigrammate 
improbat amasiaB, lib. [v. epig. 29]. 

Si qnando leporem mittis mihi, Gellia, dicis, 

Formosns septem, Marce, diebns eris. 
Si non derides, si yemm, Inx mea, narras, 

Edisti nnmqnam, Gellia, te leporem. 

Quam opinionem hinc enatam conceptamq^ conijcio (nam k 
nullo hactenus explicata est) quod qui Geniali alicui eonvivio 
interfuit, ut assolet ubi lepus decerpitur, septem continuatis 
diebus blandus appareat, venustus, hilaris, festivus, siquidem 
ubi inter epulas omnia hilariter transacta sunt, elucent etiam 
post elapsos aliquot dies in fronte, supercilijs, vultu, labijs, 
oculis, nutibus (omnia . n . sunt animi indices) magna alacri- 
tatis indicia, multaq^ se pro ferunt, erections mentis argumenta: 
nam risu, cachinnis, osculis hinc inde exhibitis, tripudijs, vino, 
canti lenas corpus concalefactu efflorescit, ac fit coloratius, san- 
guine in externum habitum undiq^ difiuso, haec itaq^ efficiunt, ut 
leporis esus animi nebulas discutiat vultumq^ serenum praestet ac 
facium nitido rubore perfusam." 

He sayes a little before of the hares flesh, q** nullum apud 
Belgas, conviviuum satis splendidum, aut magnifice instructum 
quod leporine ferculo non sit exomatum : quum nuiia caro sit 
melancholiaB magis aflinis et cognita." Levirvm Lemnms de 
Complexionibus [ed. 1619], pag. 183. 



102 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Memorand : It is found by Experience that when one keepes 
a Hare alive and feedeth him till he have occasion to eat him, if 
he telles before he killes him that he will doe so, the hare will 
thereupon be found dead, having killed himself. — [W. K.] 

Tlie Black Catts Heady ^c. 

M™ Clarke (a Herefordshire woman). Bury the head of a 
black Catt with a Jacobus or a piece of gold in it, and put into 
the eies two black beanes (what was to be done with the beanes 
she hath forgott) but it must be donne on a Tuesday (die ^ ) 
at twelve o'clock at night, and that time nine night the piece of 
gold must be taken out; and whatsoever you buy with it 
(always reserving some part of the money) you will have money 
brought into your pockett, perhaps the same piece of gold 
again. 

Fairy^^money. 

Not far from S' Bennet Hoskyns, there was a labouring-man, 
that rose up early every day to goe to worke ; who for a good 
while many dayes together found a ninepence in the way that he 
went. His wife wondering how he came by so much money, 
was afraid he gott it not honestlye; at last he told her, and after- 
wards he never found any more. 

Beanes. 

Fabia abatine is one of the Symbols of Pythagoras. Dr. Windet, 
in his De Vita Functorum StatUy hath a learned discourse of 
Beanes, out of Jewish authors. 'Tis many (above 20) yeares 
since I read it ; I remember that they afiirme it to be a plant 
belonging to y® Terrestrial spirits, and that the caviiy of the stalk 
resembles barathum; but there is one grosse error, viz., that 
the black of y® beane (hilum) in altemis annis is either above or 
below. The Jewes have strange fancies concerning the Invisible 
beane'sc. Take the head of a man that dies of a natural death, 
and set it in the ground, and in his eie, set a Beane, cover it with 
earth, and enclose it about, that nobody may looke into it, and 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 103 

without the enclosure set another Beane, or two;^ when those 
without the enclosure are ripe, that within will be ripe also ; 
then take the Beane-stalke within y® Inclosure, and take a Child, 
w®** hold fast by the hand, and the child must shell the Beanes ; 
there will be but one invisible beane of them all, w*'*^ when y® 
child has, ye other party cannot see her — credat Judeus Apella, 
non ego. — But thus much I am morally certaine of, that about 
1680 two (or three) Jews, merchants, did desire Mr. Wyld 
Clarke merchant of London, leave to make this following ex- 
periment in his Garden at Mile-end; which he saw them doe, 
and who told me of it. As I remember, 'twas much after this 
manner. They took a Black Catt, and cutt off it's head, at a 
certaine aspect of y® Planets, and buryed it in his garden by 
night with some Ceremonies, y* I have forgot, and put a Beane 
in the braine of y® Catt ; but about a day or two after, a Cock 
came and scratcht it all up. Mr. Clarke told me, that they did 
believe it, and yet they were crafty, subtile merchants. This 
brings to my remembrance a story that was generally believed 
when I was a Schooleboy (before the civill Warres) that Thieves 
when they broke open a house, would putt a Candle into a Dead 
man's hand, and then the people in the Chamber would not 
awake. There is such a kind of story somewhere amongst the 
magical writers. 

Sneezing, 

A good omen — Catullus de Acme et Septimio. — [Carm. cxlvi., 
8,9.] 

Hoc nt dixit, Amor, sinistram nt ante, 
Dextram stemnit approbationem. 

V. Theocritus Idylliran, xviii. 
O happy Bride-groom 1 Thee a lucky sneeze 
To Sparta welcomed ■ 

We have a Custome, that when one sneezes, every one els 
putts off his hatt, and bowes, and cries God bless ye S'. I have 
heard, or read a Story that many yeares since, that Sneezing was 
an Epidemical Disease and very mortal, w°^ caused this yet re- 
ceived Custome.^ 

* q Dr. Ridgeley wr Luther mentions this. 2 q^ ^^ Jjq^, 



104 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

In Germanie 'tis counted to be very uncivilly done not to say 
at one's sneezing, God bless thee, or salutem. Cramer. 



Houses haunted. 

The greatest antiquity that I have met with of houses being 
haunted is in Plautus's Mostellaria, v, y® prologue [4], 

Terrifica monstra ait yideri in isdibns. 

See farther in that Comaedie. 

It is certain that there are Houses that are haunted, thd not 
so many as reported, for there are a great many cheates used 
by Tenants Mr. Moss of Dunstable (who was accounted y^ 
great Conjuror but was indeed a person of great piety, charity, 
and sanctity), did assure E. W[yld], Esq., this to be true, and 

there was a way to cure them E Societate Jesu, 

de Exorcismis hath several wayes. I remember 'tis principally 
with perfames. 

\Iron a preservative against thunder, 1 

In Herefordshire (and those parts), when it thunders and 
lightenes the woemen doe putt Iron, e. g. an iron barr or the like, 
on the Barrell, to keep the Beer from sowring. Mdm. 'Tis a 
rule in Astrologie, that ^ does never hurt to his owne House. 

This putting of iron upon harries of drink is a common prac- 
tise in Kent. [W. K.] [See p. 22.] 

Horshoe at y* Threslwld. 

It should be a Horse-shoe that is found in the highway acci- 
dentally : it is used for a Preservative against the mischiefe or 
power of Witches; and it is an old use derived from the Astrolo- 
gical principle, that Mars is an enemie to Saturne, under whom 
witches are ; and no where so much used as (to this day) in the 
west part of London, especially the New-buildings.^ 

* I think this is in the first part already. — [See p. 27.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 105 



Irinitt/. 



The 2^ pson is made of a piece of bread by y® Papist, y^ third 
person is made of his owne frenzy, malice, ignorance, and folly 
by the Roundhead (to all these the Sp* is intituled). One the 
baker makes, the other the cobbler, and between these two I 
think y® first person is sufficiently abused. Mr, J. Seldens 
Table Talke. 

The old way of expressing the Trinity by the way of painting 
or carving was thus, sc. a venerable old man sitting in a chaire, 
with a severe aspect, wrinkled forehead, circumflex't eie-browes, 
great white curled beard ; 

Barba viros, hirtaeq. decent in corpore setae. — Ovid. Metam., lib. 14 [xiii. 860]. 

out of his belly issued a Crucifixe, over w^^ was the Dove. I 
have seen many of these before the rage & zeale of y® Civil 
warre, particularly in Glasse, in y^ east windowe of the Library 
of New-College, Oxon. 

The windowes of St. Edmunds Church at Saru^ were of 
excellent worke ; and Gondamar ofiered some hundreds of pounds 
(I thinke 500), for y® east windowe there ; w°** about A® 1631, 
or 1632, Mr. Sherville, then Recorder there, broke, upon the 
account of y' expressing God the father as aforesayd, and doeing 
of it broke his leg,^ for he was fain to clammer on a pew to 
reach high enough with his stick. For this fact he was brought 
into the Starre-chamber. Mr. Attorney Noy was his intimate 
acquaintance, and did him all the service that he was able ; not- 
withstanding w°** the of y® court run so highe, 

Ab. Laud was so violent against him, that he was ruind by the 
fine. Edw: Earle of Dorset, who had a great mastership in 
extemporary Oratorio, had the boldness to cope with the Abp., 
and replied to him concerning his justifying of y® picture, by 
that in Daniel of Ancient of daies, &c. 

Mdm. 1 John v. 7. '^Ot6 r/oet? ela-iv oi iiaprvpovm e^ iv t£ 
ovpav^, 6 HaTfjp, koI 6 A 670 9, koI to "At^lov Jlvevfia' /cal ovtol oi 

* Ye college was built by St. Edmund, A-Bp. Canterbury. 
2 "^ch gQUjg Divines looke upon as a judgement. 



106 REMAINS OF OENTILISME. 

rp€t? & ela-^} The last cl&use of this verse is not found in the 
ancient MS. copies, e. g. that in the Vatican Library, and 7® 
Tecla MS. in St. James Library, and others ; as it is not in an 
old MS. in Magdalen Coll. Library, in Oxford. That at St. 
James's was sent as a Present to King Charles the first, 
from Cyrillus, Patriarch of Constantinople, as a jewel of that 
antiquity not fitt to be kept amongst Infidels. Mr. . • . • 
Rosse (translator of Statins), was tutor to y® D. of Monmouth, 

jgott him the place [of] j Libnuy-keeper at St James. He 
( made him ) •^ '■ 

desired K. Ch. I. to be at y® charge to have it engraven in 
copper plates, and told him it would cost but jS200, but his Ma*^ 
would not yield to it. Mr. Ross sayd that it would appeare 
glorious in history after His Ma*^" death. Pish, sayd he, I care 
not what they say of me in history when I am dead. H. 
Grotius, J. G. Vossius, Hensius, &c. have made joumies into 
England purposely to correct their Greeke Testaments by this 
copie in St. James. 

S' Chr. Wren sayd that he would rather have it engraved by 
an engraver that could not understand or read Greek than by 
one that did. 

Churches. 

The way of coming into our great churches was anciently at 
the West door, y* men might see the Altar, and all the church 
before them, the other Doores were but Posterns. Mr. Jo. 
Selden, Table Talke. 

Of altarSi and their being placed at the east-end of the temples^ ^c. 

Mdes autem sacrsB Deorum iinortalium, ad regiones quas spec- 
tare debent, sic erunt constituendaB, uti, si ratio nulla impedierit, 
liberaq. ftierit potestas aedis, signum quod erit in cella collo- 
catum, spectat ad vespertinam coeli regionem: uti qui adierent 
ad aram immolantes, aut sacrificia facientes, spectant ad partem 
coeli orientis, & simulachrum, quod erit in aede ; et ita vota sus- 
cipientes contueantur aedem, et orientem coeli, ipsaq. simulachra 
vldeantur exorientia contueri supplicantes & sacrificantes ; quod 

» Peruse these MSS. again and see if y« whole verse be there. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 107 

Aras omnes Deoru necesse esse videatur ad orientem spectare. — 
Vitruvius, lib. iv. cap. 5. 

Clemens Alexandrinus (in Protreptico). " Superstitio templa 
condore persuasit. Qua enim prius hominum sepulehra fiierunt, 
magnificentius condita, Templomm appellatione vocata sunt. 
Nam apud Lariscam civitatem in arce, in templo Palladis, 
Acrisij sepulchrum fuit, quod nunc sacrarij loco celebratur ; in 
arce quoq. Atheniensi, ut est ab Antiocho in nono Historiarum 
scriptum, Cereris sepulchrum fuit; in templo vero Palladis, 
quem Poliada GraBci vocant, jacet Erichtonius, &c." 

[Images of Rye-douffh,'] 

We have a sayeing, | -^^ stands J ^^^ ^^ ^™*^® of rye-dough. 
Mdm. In the old time the little Images that did adorn the Altars 
were made of Rye-dough. When King James IP. pulled downe 
the old gallerie at White-hall (built by Cardinal Wolsey), S' 
Chr. Wren and Mr. R. Hooke told me that the little heads and 
figures in the freezes w*^*^ we tooke to be carved in wood were 
all of Rye-dowe. 

Disenheritinff eldest sonnes. 

The Disenheriting of Eldest-sonnes falls-out to be very unpros- 
perous to those that are possessed of that Estate, as is frequently 
to be observed by every one, e. ^., the Duke of Somerset's 
(Seymer) family, &c.: the Speaker Seymer is descended of y® 
eldest son of y« D. of S. protector and sic de ceteris. There are 
texts of scripture against, e. g. Thou shalt not disenherit thine 
eldest son, and the male child that first openest the wombe is 
holy to y® Lord. — [Exod. xiii. 2.] But there is a remarqueable 
aphorisme or Rule in Astrologie, sc. That the judgement that 
is to be made of the Fathers good or ill fortune, is to be made 
out or known by the scheme of the Nativity of his First Son, 
qd. N.B. 

Dr. Sanderson's 14 Serm. ad Aulam, sect. 6, vol. 1 : "Or 
when they shall disinherit their children for some deformity of 
body or defect of parts, or the like. As reason sheweth it to be 
a great sin, & not to be excused by any pretence : so it is an 



108 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

observation gronnded upon manifold experience that, when the 
right heires have been disenherited upon almost whatsoever pre- 
tence, the blessing of God hath not usually followed upon the 
person, and seldome hath the estate prospered in the hands of 
those that have succeeded in their roome." 

Fayres, 

See in St. Gregories Epistles his eple to Melitus, Bp. of 
London, where he speakes of their Fairea and preserving their 

old Customes. Originall of faires, and so y* at Way Hill, 

in Hampshyre ; Woodbery Hill, in Dorset, &c. The old British 
Temples were on hills, and so old faires, bringing the Christian 

customes as neer as might be to the British, and i ^. • ^ 1 

° ' ( bringing ) 

their Cattell there to sell, and make sacrifices, and be merry 

together. 

Tavern-bush. 

The Tavern-bush is dress't with Ivy, w*^^ is derived from that 
of Bacchus, vide Ovid's Metaphorph. lib. iii. fab. 3, was hid 
by his aunt Ino with ivy leaves in his cradle that Juno might 
not find him. Also the Thyrsi the speares of y® Bacchanalians 
were adorned with ivy. 

Fnrtim illnm primis Ino matertera cnnis 
Educat. Inde datum Nymphse Nyscides antris 
Occnluere snis ; lactisq. alimenta dedere. — [313-316.] 

manibns f rondentes snmeres thyrsos 

Tnsserat [Met. iv., 7, 8.] 

The dressing the tavern bush with Ivy-leaves fresh from y« 
plant was the custome 40 years since, now generally left off for 
carved work. 

Drinhing Healtlis. 
V. Theocriti Idy Ilium 11 : 

For he drinks Healths, and when those Healths are past. 
He must be gone, and goes away in hast. 

So Martial, Epigram : — [lib. i. Ep. 71.] 

Neeria sex cyathis, septem Jnstina bibatur. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 109 



Drin/dnff wine with Borage* 
V. Theocritus, Idyllium, xiv. 

my wine was good: 



'Twas four years old, yet mild. I yow 'tis true, 
With Burrage mixt it dranke as well as new. 

Garlands, [See p. 136.] 
Ifc 18 a custome still at y^ fiinerall of young virgins to have a 

garland of flowers wered on the corps, w*^^ is |i ! in the 

Church over her grave. 

many ribbons w^ an hour-glass hunge in the middle 

of the hollow like the clapper of a bell. 

This is in Germany very common as well when yomig Men, 
Batchelors, as when Mayds are hurried, that the coffin is spread 
all over with Garlands, and crowns made of flowers, and in some 
places hung up in Churches — Cramer, or spread over the Grave 
in Churchyards. 

V. Theocritus, Idyllium xviii. 

At Sparta's Palace twenty beauteous Mayds 

The Pride of Greece, fresh garlands crowned their heads 

With Hyacinth and twineing Parsly drest, 

Grac't joyful Menelaus Mariage Feast. 

Sr. Th. Brown* 8 Vulgar Errors^ London^ 1686. Book v. 

chap, xxij.^ 

1. If an hare crosse the way there are but few above 60 yeares 
old that are not perplexed thereat — an augurial terror — inauspi- 
catum dat iter oblatus lepus. The ground of y® conceit was 
probably that a fearfiill animal passing by us portended to us 
something to be feared. So ye meeting of a fox presaged some 
future imposture. — v. Deut. xviii. 

2. That owles and ravens were ominous appearances and signi- 
fying unlucky events, as Xtians yet conceit, was also augurial. 

* Ciceronis de Nra Deor. 

2 [The following passages are not actual quotations, but epitomised from Sir 
T. Browne's work.— Ed.] 



110 REMAINS OF OEKTILISME. 

Because many ravens were seen when Alexander entered 
Babylon they were thought to psage his death, and because an 
owie appeared before y^ battle, it presaged the ruin of Cyrus. 

3. The falling of salt is an authentick psagemt of ill-luck, 
nor can every temper contemn it ; nor was the same a grail 
pgnosfciq among the ancients of future evil, but a pticular omi- 
nation concerning the breach of friendship. For salt as incor- 
ruptible was y® symbole of friendship, and before y® other service 
was offered unto j^ guests. But whether salt were not only a 
symbol of friendship w^ man, but also a fig. of amity and reco- 
ciliation w^ God, and was therefore offered in sacrifices, is an 
higher speculation. 

4. To breake an eggshell after y® meat is out we are taught 
in our childhood, Pliny, " Hue ptinet ovorum ut exsorbuerit 
quisq. caUces protinus frangi, aut easdem cochlearibus pforari," 
and the intent thereof was to p'vent witchcraft; lest witches 
should draw or prick their names therein and veneficiously mis- 
chiefe y® persons, they broke y« shell.^ 

5. The true lovers knot is still retained in presents of love 
amongst us ; in which forme the zone or wooden girdle of y® 
bride was tyed, phaps it had its originall from nodus Herculeanus, 
resembling the snaky complication in ye Caducous or rod of 
Hermes. 

6. When our cheek bumeth, or eare tingleth, we usually say 
that some body is talking of us, w*^^ is an ancient conceit, and 
ranked among supstitious opinions by Pliny, '^ Absentes tinnitu 
auriu praesentire sermones de se, receptum est," w^^ is a conceit 
hardly to be made out wyout the concession of a signifying 
genius or universal Mercury. 

7. When we desire to confine our words, we comonly say 
they are spoken under the rose.^ Nazianzen makes the rose a 
symbol of silence, and the ancient custome in Symposiack meet- 
ings was to weave chaplets of roses about their heads; and so 
we condemne not y® German custome w*^** over the table * de- 
scribeth a rose in y® ceiling. The rose was y^ flower of Venus, 

^ This is usual in Dantzig in Prussia. 

* Prov. Under the rose be it spoken. 

» This is true, for I myself, have seen it to bee painted at the said place. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. Ill 

w*^^ Cupid consecrated to Haxpocrates, the God of Silence, and 
was therefore an embleme thereof to conceal the pranks of 
venery. 

8. That Smoak doth follow the fairest is ancient opinion, as is 
to be observed in Athanaeus. 

9. To sitt cross legged or with our fingers pectinated, shutt 
together, is accounted bad. Friends will psuade us from it. 
The same conceit was religiously observed by y® ancients as is 
observable from Pliny. Poplites altemis genibus imponere 
nefas olim, and also fro Athenaeus, that it was an old veneficious 
practice, and Juno is made in this posture to hinder the delivery 
of Alcmena. 

10. The set and statary times of pareing of nails and cutting 
of haire is thought ' by many a point of consideration, w*'^ is 
perhaps but the continuation an ancient superstition.^ For 
piaculous it was unto y® Eomans to pare their nails upon the 
Nundinae, observed every ninth day, and was also feared by 
others upon certain dales of the weeke, according to that of 
Ausonius, " Ungues Mercurio, barbam Jove, Cypride crines," 
and was one part of y® wickednesse of Manasses, when 'tis 
delivered that he observed times.^ 

11. A common fashion it is to nourish hair upon the nodes 
of the face, w*'^ is y® ppetuation of a very ancient custome, and 
though innocently practised among us may have supstitious 
original, according to that of Pliny, " Naevos in facie tondere 
religiosum habent multi." From y® like might proceed the 
feare of poling elvelocks or complicated hair, they being votary 
at first and dedicated upon occasion, preserved w^*^ care and 
accordingly esteemed by others, as appears by that of Apuleius, 
" Adjure per dulcen capilli tui nodulum." 

12. A custome there is in most parts of Europe to adorn 
aqueducts, springs (? spouts), and cisterns with lion's heads ; 
w*^*^ although is illaudable ornament, is of an Egyptian genealogy, 
who practised the same under a symbolised illation. For, 
because its sun being in Leo, the fiood of Nilus was at the full, 
and water became conveyed into every part, they made the 

* q. ye custome now (I thinke) not upon a Monday. 
» 1 Chron. 35. 



112 BEMAINS OF OENTILISME. 

spouts of their aqueducts through the head of a lion. And upon 
some CaBlestial respects it is not improbable the great Mogul or 
Indian King doth bear for his arms the lion and the sun. 

13. Many conceive they are unblest until! they put on their 
girdle. Wherein there are involved considerations. For by a 
girdle or cincture are symboKcaUy impKed truth, resolution, 
and readiness for action, w^^ are parts and virtues required in 
the service of Qt)d. According whereto y® Israelites did eat the 
paschal lamb with their loins girded.^ And y® Almighty bids 
Job gird up his loyns like a man, " Gird up the loyns of y' 
minds" — Peter [i. 13]. So y® high priest was girt with a girdle of 
fine linnen. So it is sayd concerning our Saviour, " Righteous- 
ness shall be y® girdle of his loyns, and faithfulness y* girdle of his 
reins." Unto this day the Jews doe bless themselves when 
they put on their zone or cincture. The heart and parts w*'^ 
God requires are divided from y® inferior and concupiscential 
organs; implying thereby a memento into purification and 
cleanness of heart, w*'** is comonly difiled fro y® concupiscence 
and aflection of those parts. And thus we may make out y® 
doctrine of Pythagoras, to ofler sacrifice with our feet naked, 
that is, that our inferior parts and farthest removed from reason 
might be free and of no impediment to us. 

14. The picture of God the Father in y® shape of an old man 
is a dangerous piece, and in this fecundity of sects may revive 
the Anthropomorphites. Which, although maintained from the 
expression of Daniel, " I beheld when the ancient of days did 
sit, whose hair was like the pure wool ; " yet it may be derived 
from the hieroglyphical description of y® -Egyptians, who ex- 
pressed the eneph or creator of y® world an old man in a blue 
mantle with an egg in his mouth, w*^^ was y® emblem of y® 
world. 

15. The sun and moon are usually described with humane 
faces; whether herein there be not a Pagan imitation, and 
these visages at first implied an Apollo and Diana, we may 
make some doubt, and we find the statue of y® sun was framed 
with raies about the head, w^^ were the indeciduous and un- 
shaven locks of Apollo. 

» Isa. 11. 



REMAINS OF GBNTILISME. 113 

16. We shall not, I hope, disparage the resurrection of our 
Redeemer if we say the sun doth not dance on Easterday. 

17. Great conceits are raised of y® involution or membranous 
covering coinonly called the sillyhow, that sometimes is found 
about y® heads of children upon their birth, and is therefore 
preserved with great care, not only as medical in diseases, but 
effectual in success concerning the infant and others, which is 
surely no more than a continued superstition, for hereof we 
read in the life of Antoninus delivered by Spartianus, that 
children are bom sometimes with this natural cap, which mid- 
wives were wont to sell unto lawyers, who had an opinion it 
advantaged their promotion. 

19. A conceit there is that y® devil comonly appeareth w*^ a 
cloven hoof, wherein, though it seem excessively ridiculous, 
there may be something of truth, and y® ground at first might 
be his frequent appearing in the shape of a goat, w^^ answers 
that description. This was the opinion of ancient Xtians con- 
cerning yc apparition of Panites, Fauns, and Saiyrs, and of this 
form we read of one that appeared to Antony in y® wilderness. 
The same is also confirmed from expositions of S. Scripture, for 
where it is sayd, " Thou shalt not ofler unto devils," y® original 
word is Seghmirim,^ rough and hairy goates, because in that 
shape y® devil most often appeared. Nor did he only assume 
this shape in elder times, but commonly in latter times, especially 
in y® place of his worship, if there be any truth in the confession 
of witches. And therefore a goat is not improperly made a 
hieroglyphic of y® devil, as Pierius hath expressed it.^ So might 
it be an emblem of sin as it was in the sin offering, and so 
likewise of wicked and sinfrdl men according to y® expression 
of scripture in y® method of the last distribution, when our 
Saviour shall separate the sheep from the goats, that is, y^ sons 
of y® Lamb from the children of the devil. 

5*" Th. BrowrCa Vulgar Errors. 

Chap, xxiij. 1. That temperamental dignotions and con- 
jecture of prevalent humours may be collected from spots in the 

* Levit. 17. ^ Bodinus in his Dsemonomania. 

I 



114 REMAINS OF OENTILISME. 

nails, we are not averse to concede, but yet not ready to admit 
sundry divinations vulgarly raised upon them ; nor do we 
observe it verified in others what Cardan discovers as a property 
in himselfe/ to have found therein some signs of most events 
that ever happened unto him, or that there is much considerable 
in that doctrine of chiromancy, that spots in the top of y® nails 
do signifie things past, in y® middle things present, and at the 
bottom events to come ; that white specks p'sage our felicity, 
blue ones misfortunes ; that those in y® nail of y® thumb have 
significations of honour, those in y^ forefinger of riches, and so 
respectively in other fingers (according to the planetical rela- 
tions fi'om whence they receive their names), as Tricassus hath 
taken up and Picciolus well rejecteth.* 

3. Though useless unto us and rather of molestation, we 
cofnonly refrain from killing swallows, and esteem it unlucky 
to destroy them ; ' whether herein there be not a Pagan relique 
we have some reason to doubt, for we reade in ^lian that these 
birds were sacred unto the penates or houshold gods of the 
ancients, and therefore were preserved. The same they also 
honoured as y® nuncios of the spring ; and we find in AthenaBus 
the Bhodians had a solemn song to welcom in the swallow. 

4. That candles and lights bum dim and blue at the apparition 
of spirits may be true, if the ambient air be full of suphureous 
spirits, as it happeneth oftentimes in mines, when damps and 
exhalations are able to extinguish yem. And may be also verified 
when spirits doe make themselves visible bodies of such efflu- 
viums. But of lower consideration is the comon foretelling of 
strangers from the fiingous parcels about the wicks of candles, 
which only signifieth a moist and pluvious air about them, 
hindering the evolution of y® light and favillous particles, where- 
upon they are forced to settle upon the snaft. 

5. Though corall doth pperly p'serve and fasten y® teeth in 
men yet is used in children to make an easier passage for them, 
and for y* intent is worn about their necks. But whether this 
custom were not superstitiously founded, as p'sumed an amulet 

* De Varietate Rerum. * De Inspectione Manus, 

" So in Germany they believe. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 115 

or defensative against fascination, is not beyond all doubt For 
the same is delivered by Pliny. " Aruspices religiosnm Coralli 
gestamen amoliendis periculis arbitrantur, et surculi in&ntia 
alligati, tutelam habere ereduntur." ^ 

6. A strange kind of exploration and peculiar way of Bhabdo- 
mancy is that which is used in mineral discoveries:^ with a 
forked hazel, com only called Moses his rod, w^^ freely held 
forth will stir and play if any mine be under it. And though 
many there are who have attempted to make it good, yet until 
better information, we are of opinion, with Agricola, that in 
itself it is a fruitless exploration, strongly pcenting of Pagan 
derivation, and the Virgula Divina, proverbially magnified of 
old. The ground whereof were the magicall rods in poets, that 
of Pallas in Homer, that of Mercury, that charmed Argus, and 
that of Circe, w*^^ transformed y® followers of Ulysses. Too 
boldly usurping the name of Moses Eod, from which, notwith- 
standing, and that of Aaron, were pbably occasioned the fables 
of all the rest ; for that of Moses must needs be famous unto the 
Egyptians, and that of Aaron unto many other nations, as being 
p'served in the Ark, until the destruction of the temple built by 
Solomon.8 

7. A practise there is among us to determine doubtfiil matters 
by the opening of a book, and letting fall a staff, w®^ notwith- 
standing are ancient fragments of Pagan divinations. The first 
an imitation of Sortes Homericae, or Virgilianse, drawing deter- 
minations from verses occasionally occurring. The same was 
practised by Severus, who entertained ominous hopes of y^ 
Empire, from that verse in Virgil '^ Tu regere imperio populos 

* Md'm. The Irish doe nse a woolyes fang-tooth set in silyer for this purpose; 
which they hold to be better than coral. And in the very same manner the 
children in Germany weare abont them furnished too with little silver bells. 

« De Re Metallica, lib. ii. 

* In the thirty yeares civill warr in Germany, some of the Soldiers had the 
same Rod, to make nse of in discoyering the money silver and gold plates, which 
the owners had hid under ground and when the Rod held by one did incline to 
any place, it was a token that money lay there hid. (If I mistake not) Doctor 
Helvetias in his Diribitorio Medico, mentiones it, and sayes that it must be cutt 
at Midsummer night at twelve a clock. 

I2 



116 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Bomane memento/' and Gk)rdiann8, who reigned but a few daies^ 
was discouraged by another ; that is " Ostendunt terris hune 
tantum fata, nee ultra esse sinunt." Nor was this only performed 
in heathen authors, but upon the sacred text of Scripture/ as 
Gregorius Turonensis hath left some account ; and as the practise 
of the Emperor Heraclius before his expedition into Asia Minor, 
is delivered by Cedrenus. As for the divination by the staff it 
is an augurial relique, and the practise thereof is accused by God 
himselfe, '^ My people ask counsel of their stocks, and their staff 
dedareth unto them."^ Of this kind of divination was that prac- 
tised by Nebuchadnozor in that Chaldean miscellany delivered 
by Ezechiel : " The King of Babylon stood at the parting of the 
way, at the head of two waies to use divination ; he made his 
arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked into the liver; 
at the right hand were the divinations of Jerusalem." That is, 
as Estius expounded it, the left way leading unto Babbah, the 
chief city of the Amorites, and the right hand unto Jerusalem, 
he considered idols and entrals, he threw up a bundle of arrows 
to see which way they would light, and falling on the right hand 
he marched towards Jerusalem. A like way of Belomancy or 
divination by arrows hath been in request by Scythians, Alanes, 
Germans, with the Africans and Turks of Algiers. But of 
another nature was that practised by Elisha, when by an arrow 
shot from an eastern window, he signified the destruction of 
Syria, or when according to the three strokes of Joash, with an 
arrow upon the ground, he foretold the number of his victories. 
For thereby the spirit of God particular'd the same ; and deter- 
mined the streaks of the king unto three, which the hopes of the 
Prophet expected in twice the number. 

8. We cannot omit to observe the tenacity of ancient cus- 
tomes, in the nominal observations of the several dayes of the 
week, according to Gentile and Pagan appellations, for the 

' Such a book has seen Cramer made by a Jesuit, the subject was of consola- 
tion for afflicted and distressed Christians, pretending alwaies to get some com- 
fort when used and to the purpose. 

2 Hosea 4. > Ezek. 24. 

* 2 Kings, 13, 15. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 117 

original is very high, and as old as the ancient Egyptians, who 
named the same according to the seven planets, the admired 
stars of Heaven, and respected deities among them.^ Unto 
everyone assigning a several day; not according to their celestial 
order, or as they are disposed in Heaven; but after a diatessaron 
or musical fourth. For beginning Saturday with Saturn, the 
supreamest planet, they accoimted by Jupiter and Mars unto 
Sol, making Sunday, From Sol in like manner by Venus and 
Mercury unto Luna, making Monday ; and so through all the 
rest. And the same order they confirmed by numbering the 
hours of the day unto twenty-four, according to the naturall order 
of ye planets. For beginning to account firom Saturn, Jupiter, 
Mars, and so about imto twenty-four, the next will happen unto 
Luna, making Monday. And so with the rest, according to the 
account and order observed still among us. 

The Jews themselves in their astrological considerations 
concerning nativities, and planetary hours, observe the same 
order, upon as witty foundations. Because by an equal in- 
terval they make seven triangles, the bases whereof are the 
seven sides of a septilateral figure, described within a circle.^ 
That is, if a figure of seven sides be described in a circle, and at 
y® angles thereof the names of the planets be placed, in their 
natural order on it : if we begin with Saturn, and successively 
draw lines from angle to angle, until seven equicrural triangles 
be described, whose bases are the several sides of the septilateral 
figure, the triangles will be made by this order. The first being 
made by Saturn, Sol, and Luna, that is Sunday, Monday, and 
Tuesday ; and so the rest, the order still retained.^ 

But thus much is observable, that however in celestial con- 
siderations they embraced the received order of the planets, yet 
did they not retain either characters, or names in comon use 
among us ; but declining humane denominations, they assigned 
theih names from some remarkable qualities ; as is very obser- 

* V. pag. * Make ye figore. 

' Cains Icon apnd doct. Gaffarel. cap. ii. et Fabrit. Pad. 



118 REMAINS OF GEKTILISME. 

vable in their red and splendid planets, (t) of Mars and Yenus.^ 
But the change of their names disparaged not the consideration 
of their natores, nor did they thereby reject all memory of 
those remarkable stars; which God himself admitted in his 
tabernacle, if conjecture will hold concerning the golden candle- 
stick, whose shaft resembled the sun and six branches the planets 
about it. 

9. We are unwilling to enlarge concerning many other; only 
referring unto sober examination what natural effects can be 
reasonably expected, when to prevent the ephialtes or night- 
mare, we hang up an hollow stone in our stables ; when for 
amulets against agues we use the chips of a gallows and places 
of execution. When for warts we rub our hands before the 
moon, or comitt any maculated part to the touch of the dead. 
What truth there is in those common female doctrines, that the 
first rib of roast beefe powdered is a peculiar remedy against 
fluxes. That to urine upon earth newly cast up by a mole 
bringeth down y® menses in women. 

That if a child dieth and the neck becometh not stifle, but for 
many hours remaineth lithe and flacied, some other in the house 
will dye not long after. That if a woman with child looketh 
upon a dead body, her child will be of a pale complexion ; our 
learned and critical philosophers might illustrate, whose exaeter 
performances our adventures do but solicite; mean while, I 
hope, they will plausibly receive our attempts, or candidly correct 
our misconjectures. 

Disce, sed ira cadat naso, rngosaq. sauna 
Dnm yeteres avias tibi de pnlmone revello. 

Thus far S' Tho» Brown. 

' Maadim Nogah. » 



BEMAINS OF QENTILISME. Il9 

Historia Ecclesiastica Tho: Hobbes Malmesburimmj pag. 62. 

Nmnina nee tantum Gentes fictilia amabant, 

Sed Festos etiam concelebrare dies ; 
ToUere quos quiciinq. esset conatus ineptus, 

Fecisset madidnin saxens imber enm. 
Hinc ClirQnidas festas (tunc Satnmalia) nunc est 

Catholicns f estns, nomine Camiyali. 
Nonne etiam mensis Maij primnm meministi, 

Te pnero, jnvenes concelebrare diem ? 
' Ut Phallam arboremn (membmm navile) ferebant 

E sjlvis, medio qnem statnere f oro ; 
Utq. illnm circa jnyenes dnxSre Choreas 

Aptus vir bellis, apta pnella viris ? 
Hmic f estmn Gentes olim Priapeia vocabant, 

Optatmn pueris, Virginibusq diem. 
Nondum def ecit vetns Ambarvalia festus 

(Festns, at innocens, permanet ille dies) 
Et qnem mrales finita messe coloni 

Cnm Baccho Cereris concelebrare solent. 
Temporibns priscis snnt Bacchanalia dicta, 

Cnm yini colerent ebrietate Denm 
Mnlta tnlere patris legi contraria Christi 

Dnm popnlmn properant conciliare sibi. 



* At Heidelberg the Fisher men have at the !■' May-day, by y« Permission of 
the Elector, a peculiar sport upon the River Neckar, tying a naked goose rubb'd 
all over with soap to a long pole midst in the river, and then one boat after 
another roweth as fast as is possible to the said pole without the least stopping at 
it, and one young fisher man standing upright in the boat snatchd after the said 
naked goose with his hand, and if he can pull down the same he wins the game, 
but before they can fetche it they tiye very often in vain. 

In Germany almost every where at Easter, & especially at Whitsunday, they 
set in their houses, parlors, & chambers, young Birch trees which they keep a 
fortnight or longer green in keeping the same in tubs with fresh water, and in 
some places the churches are also full. 

I doe not remember that I ever sawe a May-pole in France : quaere if there are 
any there. In Holland they have their Meybooms, w*"* are streight young Trees 
set up. And at Woodstock in Oxon, they every May-eve goe into y« Parke, and 
fetch awa a number of Haw-thome-trees, w<* they sett before their dores, 'tis pity 
that they make such a destruction of so fine a tree. At Westchester on S* Johns 
Bagtist eve, they bring a multitude of young Birch trees and plant before their 
dores to wither : but this is nothing to May day : but rather (perhaps) to Ceres. 
I have a conceit that Priapus was the Tutelar Saint of the barbers ; methinks the 
elevation of the barber's pole resembles an erection of Hasta Priapi. In France, 
as likewise in Germany, the Barbers have no Poles ; but only Basins at y* win- 
dowes. The church of S' Andrews Undershaf t, London, is denominated from the 
May-pole (heretofore pole was called shaft). The shaft or Pole stood where M' 
Weekes house is. 



120 REMAINS OF GENTIUSME. 



.% 



— — With gifts in hands, whose rites 
Are proper to appease deceased sprights.' 

Tilting. 

" Chariotry is one of the antiquated Modes of Chivalry. Here- 
tofore, as it was used in Triumphs, so in field service and Gbmes. 
This use may well goe conjoyned ; for ordinarily publick sports, 
either by the policy of the masters or the propension of men's 
affections, maintain a resemblance with the deeds of arms of 
their respective countreys," ^ 

After the coming in of jr® Grothes these Homan Games and 
Cirques were turned into Tilts and Tournaments, e,g. the Annuall 
solempnity of y® K*" of King Arthur's Bound Table at Pentecost, 
&c. Tilting breath'd its last when K. Charles 1'^ left London. 
The Tilt-yard was where the Guard-house is now, opposite to 
Whitehall. In those days all gent, of a thousand pounds p annu 
kept a Hor^e or Horses for a man-at-armes. 

Theevea* handaell ever unlucky. — Proverb. 

And as mischances never goe alone.' 

There is a Spanish proverb word for word w^ this. The 
astrologers give a reason for this : and so d contra, when good 
fortune comes, it comes tumbling. 

Angel in the Revelation. Prostration. 

But all those jnst resolves and vows repeated 
Thine and my angry angel have defeated, 
Which thus to me hath in sad wise convey 'd, 
For thy sweet face this dust and uselesse shade/ 

For I full ill, 

Should hearken to my present Angels will. 



* Sophoclis Electra, translated hy Mr. Chr. Wase. 
2 Mr. Chr. Wase, his comment. 

' Sophoclis Electra. * 

* Sophoclis Electra of the Greeke, translated by Mr. Chr. Wase. 



REMAINS OF OENTILISME. 121 

Soyereign Apollo, them with favour hear. 
And me w^ them; for I did still appeare 
With hand enlargd, according to my power. 
And now, Lycean King, I bring my store, 
I pray, I prostrate me, I beg. 

A Proverb. 

" He loves me as well as the Devil loves Holy-water," (i^ he 
hates me. 

That Salt is inimique to the Evill spirits is agreed upon by the 
writers of Magick : as also perfumes, w*^ is the reason they were 
used in their temples and sacrifices, Holy water is water 
wherein fine white Salt hath been dissolved.^ Mdm. there was 
no sacrifice without salt. Mdm. I did try, 1669, y® fountaine 
at Fosfount with a lixivium of pott-ashes ; I opened the glasse 
bottle, 1686, and it was stiU sweet and cleare as when putt in, 
only brackish with the lixivium. 

Fore'Tioon, 

Mariage is celebrated in the Fore-noon by the Canons of the 
Church; some hold that 'tis not so lucky to undertake any 
serious afiaire declinante Sole. Mass is by the canons not to be 
celebrated in the Afternoon. The first Institution was a Supper. 

Springs. 

Q. of y® Earle of Abington about the Holy-well that his Lo^ 
told me is in his Parke at Eicot, and the name of it, and the 
custome that was used there in y® old time. The keepers used 
some ceremony in some place there but in those days (I believe) 
it was not a parke. The water of the well is held to be good 
for the Eies. See if D' Plott hath not mentioned this in his 
Oxfordshire.^ This should be referred to the Paragraff of Holy 
wells. [See p. 33.] 

» [Seep. 128.] 

' [Plot does not mention this particular well, bnt has references to others 
which were " accounted soveraign for the eyes '* in Nat. Hist. Oxf . chap. ii. — 
Ed.] 



122 BEMAINS OF QBKTILISME. 

Caleshes, 

Parraq. qaamprimmn rapientibns esseda maimiH. — Ainonun,lib. ii. eleg. 16. [49.] 
Spicola com pictis hsrent in casside pennis. — ^Ex Fonto, lib. iv. eleg. 7. [37.] 

IfnTniwnngm 
Virgo Yestalis damnati incesti, viva defossa esi^ 

Lords of Misrule : vid. King of%f Beane. 

At Christmas, were at great houses Lords of Misrute during 
the xij. daies. This seemes to be derived (saith Mr. S. Purchas, 
in his Pilgrimage, pag. 69) from the Feast in Babylon kept in 
honour of the Goddesse Dorcetha, for five dayes together: during 
which time the Masters were under the Dominion of their 
servants ; one of which was usually sett over the rest and royally 
cloathed, and was called Sogan, that is, Great Prince, v. Tacit. 
Annales, lib. [xiii. c. 15] : Kings of Saturnalia. 

Consecrating Churches, 

Holy anointing oyle, to anoint the Tabernacle, Exod. c. 30, v. 
23, &c. and Exod. [Levii] 8, v. 10. In some few churches one 
shall find crosses painted on the walls (commonly within a circle), 
but at Our Lady Church at Saru the crosses were of copper, 
now only remain the vestigia where they were let into the stone. 
When the Bishop consecrated he went about the church, with 
holy consecrated oyle, and with a pencill, made a little cross in 
the middle of the painted one. 

Holy and Ivy, sc. dressing of Churches and Houses^ ^c. 
" Boughs of goodly trees, Palme," &c. : Leviticus, 23, v. 40. 

Lampes. 
" Lampes to bume continually." Leviticus, 24, 3 [2]. 

\_Fairies. See p, 125.] 

Mdm, Mr. EHas Ashmole sayes that a Piper at Lichfield was 
entertayned by the Fayries, and who sayd he knew which houses 

* T. Liyius, lib. [viii. c. 15.] 



KEMAINS OF GEKTILISMB, 123 

of the Towne were Fayry-ground. Mr. Ashmole also spake of a 
cavous place, e.g that at [Borough-hill] in Surrey, where people, 
against Weddings or &c. bespoke Spitts, pewter, &c. : and they 
had it; but were to retume it, or els they should never be 
supplyed any more.^ 

Horseshoe on y* ITireshold. 

At Mr. Ashmoles threshold the hollow of ihe horseshoe 
pointeth into the house as here expressed. [See p. 9.] 

Proverbs. 

A proverb in the west, e. g, Wiltshire and Dorsets. 

Soulegrove sit leu {%) February is seldome warme. [See 

P-9-] 

Item. Good to cut Briars in the Sere month (i.) August. 

I believe the word Sere comes from the star Sirius in the 

mouth of the great Dog. 

From old Mr, Frederick Vaughan. 

The Friars Mendicant heretofore would take their opportunity 
to come to the houses when the good woemen did bake, and 
would read a Ghospel over the batchy and the good woman would 
give them a Cake, or &c. It should seem by Chaucer's tale 
that they had a fashion to beg in Bythme. 

" Of your white bread I would desire a shiyer, 
And of your hen the Liver." 

Arithmetical Figures. 

" When the kings of Africa possessed Spaine they founded 
universities there ; ^ then great ignorance in the Latin church, 
but much knowledge amongst them. Our philosophy and 
mathematicks translated from the Arabiq. Scaliger saieth, that 
the figures which we use in arithmetick came from the Arabians 
and Moores to y® Spaniards, and thence to us about 300 yeares 
since (1612) and then much differing from the characters we now 

* [See Appendix.] 

^ Purchase in his Pilgrimage, p. 242 : ex Scalig. Epist. 



124 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 



use. e. g, the old figures in the folios of the Bookes of the Bp. of 
Salisburies consistorie court, and in the old out-of-fashion 
Astrolabes and mathematical Instruments, and in old MSS., as 
1,2,3, «, l2,<r, A, 8, p, 0. 

Mdm. In y* chancell at Horspath, Qxon, in y* circle about 

W. Wanfleets V> so 1 8 99 ; on Hampton-court-gate, 

1^32 ; on the gate at Saint Johns juxta derkenwell, VfiA ; on 
a cross beame at London Bridge between two Houses, thus — 
1 « 95 (i.) 1495. 

Mdm. All old accounts are in numerall letters : even to my 
remembrance when I was a youth Gentlemen's Bayliffs in the 
Countrey used no other, e, g. i. ii. iii. iiii. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. 
xi. &c. 1. = 50, c. = 100, and to this day in the accounts in 
y® Exchequer. And the Shop-keepers in my Grandfathers time 
used to reckon with Counters ; w*** is the best and surest way ; 
and is still used by the French. Heretofore the seven planets 
were made thus : 



W 













T 






c 


C 


9 


IS 


a 


a 



D' Ralph Bathurst saies that the Jewes (I think, q.) used 
this marke on their childbed linnen 




Charmes or Spells. 

This following speU is to be wome about the neck for an 
ague : — 

D' Bathurst saith, that 
this spell is corrupt Hebrew, 
sc. dabar is verbu, and 
abraca is benedixit (t.) ver- 
bum benedixit. 




abracadabra 
bracadabr 
r 
a 
c 
a 
d 



a 



b 

a 

d 

a 

c 

a 



K13Klfc<D K13N 



b r 

r b 

a 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 125 

For a cure of y® quartan ague the Physitian and Poet Sam- 
monicus prescribed this spell, Maonia Iliados quartum suppone 
tremanti. [W. K.] 

Pliny makes mention of spells, e. g. lib. [xxvii. 106.] "Reseda, 
morbos reseda: [Scisne quis hie pullus egerit radices? nee 
caput, nee pedes habeant. Haec ter dicunt, totiesque despuunt." 
This was as a cure in inflammation.] 

Spell is old English for word^ so Gospell (i.) God's word. 

A Spell to cure the biting of a Mad Dog. 
Bebns Rnbus Epilepscnm. 

Write these words in paper, and give it to the party, or beast 
bitten, to eate in bread, or &c. Mr. Dennys of Poole, in Dorset- 
shire sayeth, this Receipt never failes. 

Perhaps this spell may be the anagramme of some sence or 
recipe : as D' Bathurst hath discovered in Abracadabra, which I 
thought had been nonsense. 

A preservatif. 

Dec doco diablo dec terrain 
Juno esta place f odro non 
colpello yivecatis agratis 
Jnbo non deco Vox delibrom 
Thorn at esto tempo p' me. 

Stick up a staffe, or note the place where you begin, and goe 
round the ground saying the Spell aforesayd till you come where 
you did begin, day or night ; from Mr. Pary in Surrey. 
This does passe my understanding; but (perhaps) it may be 
deciphered too. 

Faieries} 

When I was a Boy, our Countrey people would talke much of 
them: they swept up the Harth cleane at night: and did sett their 
shoes by the fire, & many times they should find a threepence 
in one of them. Mrs. Markey (a daughter of Serjeant Hoskyns, 
the Poet) told me, that her Mother did use that Custome, and 
had as much money as made her (or bought her) a little Silver- 
cup of thirtie shillings value.^ Elias Ashmole, Esq., sayes : there 

» [See p. 122.] « [See p. 30.] 



126 REMAINS OF 0ENTILISM1E. 

was in liis time a piper in Lichfield that did know what houses 
were faiery-ground, and that the piper had oftentimes seen 
them. 



InchantmeiiU. 

Wissenbachii Disputationes, Disp. iii. § 39, sc. Poena Vene- 
ficii similiter ut caedis, gladius est. Exod. 20, v. 5, Deut. 
18, V. 10. Nee sane mitior esse potuit, cum plus sit hominum 
occidere venend quam gladio. Lapsoq. igitur est Constantinus in 
1. 4 (eodem quam edidit postquam ad fidem Christianum con- 
versus esset) ubi incantationem, quae fitad bonum finem, puto, 
ne maturis vindenmijs imbres noceant, aut ventis, grandinisque 
lapidatione quatiantur, tantum non probat. Et huic derogatum 
1. 4, Nov. Leonis 65. Ac generalitef amuleta omnia quae et 
^vKatcTrjpta dicuntur, damnantur Laodiceaae Synodi, c. 36, vide 
Cujae 27, observat 17. De Susurris et Carminibus magicis, vide 
Bodin. en sa Demonomanie des Sorciers, p. 60. 

Pardons of MaUfactora. 

Idem, disp. Ivii. § 5. In Germania habeo morem hunc 
capitis aliquis damnatur, qui coelebs sit, intercedit puella, petens 
damnato poenam remitti, sibiq. matrimonio jungi. The same 
custome is at London, of w*^ I remember one instance. 

Triall of Witches hy Swimming. 

Ibidem, § 6. His temporibus foeminas sortilegii suspectas, 
judices Germanorum aquis superponunt, manibus & pedibus 
vinctas ; quae merguntur, a scelere puras esse pronunciant ; quae 
vero supernatant, sortium impietate teneri judicant, quod etiam 
SXoyov. This I have known donne at Leominster, in Hereford- 
shire, by the common-people in the late Civil war. 

Fire Ordele ^ Water Ordele. 

Idem, Contradictiones Juris Canonici, § 35, anciently in use 
in Germany. Quo probationis genere diu usi sunt Xpiani, ex 



REMAINS OF GENTTLISME. 127 

cacozelift potionis zelotypiae, quam strupri [sic] insimulatis 
mulieribus Moyses dari voluit, Num. 5. Et in legibus Philippi 
Comitis Flandriae, vulneris noctu illati reus, si ita Scabinis 
videatur, ferro candente se expurgare jubetur. 

Mere-atonea. 

Idem, De Actionum cessione, disp. ii. § 9. Intra 5 pedum, 
qui inter confines agros interjacent, latitudinem, nulla est Usu- 
capio. (forte quod confinium Deo Termino, ex institute NumaB 
Pompilij, sacrum putaretur. Alex, ab Alexandre, lib. 3, gen. 
dier. Halicarnass: lib. 2). 

TomamenU. 

Idem, Contradictiones Juris Canonici, § 56. Torneamenta, 
hastiludia, hoplomachias prohibet Clemens V. Papa, i. un 
extund de tornea. Permittet Johannes xxii., extravag. eod. 
LimnsD b. de Jur. Publ., cap. 15, p. 171. 

Y* old story of y* Church^mawle^ vf^ hung behind the dore^ for 
the eldest sonne to fetch to knock his father in the head when 
past hex} 

Idem, disp. viii. § 29. Olim setas Ix. annorum excusabat k 
muneribus publicis. Pliny 4., ep. 23, unde Sexagenarij pro- 
verbialiter dicuntur Depontani, eo quod sufifragium non ferrent. 
Car. Sigon. 1, de antiq. jur. cir. Bom. 17 in fine. Ovid's 
Fastorum [v. 633-4]. 

Pars pntat, nt ferrent jnyenes snffragia soli, 
Fontibns infirmos praecipitasse senes. 

Caeterum tempushic computatur naturaliter, egressum oportet 
Septuagesimum qui velit excusari. 

Consecrated things. 

Id., disput. ix. § 12. Quaeritur, An res ab Hereticis conse- 
crataB, in usus profanes possint converti? Neg. Semel Deo 
dicatum in usus humanos ulterius transferendum non est. 0pp. 
1. s. c. de pagan. Principes occupant loca sacra. Besp. ex 

» [See p. 19.] 



128 REMAINS OF GBNTILI8ME. 

loquitar de locis sacris quae falsis diis dedicata sunt a Paganis. 
Vide locu Apostoli, 1 Corinth. 10, v, 20. 

Holy-water} 

Ex Ghronico Saxonico: An cxiv. Alexander hie constitait 
aquam benedictam fieri. (Annot ex Laud, quas sic habet 
Florentinus Wig: Alexander Papa constitait aquam sparsionis 
cum sale benedicto in hominum habitaculis spargi.) 

Larington, NoTemb. 1693. 

Excerpta out of Sephersheba, or the Oath-book written by the 
learned Jo: Tombes, B.D. in 4^ 1662. 

Swearing, 

Pagg. 36, 37. Homer, in his Iliads, mentions the Heathen 
Gods oath, that it was by Styx, (i) the imagined horrid lake of 
Hell, or place of the dead. It is likely their oath was to impre- 
cate to themselves that, if they did not so, let them be thrust 
down from the air into y® Siyx. v. Peter, 2 ep. 2, 4 ; Jude, 
V. 6. With this kind of swearing, in the most formidable 
manner that ever I read any oath taken, were some lawes in 
England confirmed by K. Hen. 3, and the Nobles of England 
holding burning Tapers in their hands, and then casting them 
6ut of their hands with direfuU imprecations to themselves, to be 
extinguished if they violated them. In the grants to y® Church 
by the Saxon Kings you may see in the Monasticon Angl: many 
direfiill imprecations, as let them that be thrown into 

y® abyss, and let their portion be with Judas Iscariot, &c. 

P. 41. That solemniiy w*'*^ in some places is used in touching 
and kissing of the Book is plainly of the same kind with the 
elevation or apprehension of the hand, that is, it signifies consent 
to swear, and the oath itselfe. Ezek. 17, 18, " seing he despised 
the oath, by breaking the Covenant, when, lo, he had given his 
hand " (i), his hand being given to him, he pmised and sware sub- 
jection to the King of Babylon. For, giving the hand^ is a signe 

» [See p. 121.] 



'--^ 



BEliAINS OF OENTILISME. 129 

of a pmisG of fidelity, as 2 Kings 10, 15, when Jehonadab gave 
Jehu his right hand. And thus when persons are made friends, 
or pmise amity one to another, they give to each other their 
hands, & plight their troth to each other, and witness this 
before God by joyning of hands, it hath the form and right of 
an oath, called the Covenant of Gody Prov. 2, 17. The Graecians 
in Homers Iliads say. Where are your oath and right hands to 

which we trusted? 

* 

P. 43. Another Rite of Swearing is comeing before the Altar 
of God, e. g,j Kings 8, 31. If any man trespass against his 
neighbour y and an oath be layd upon him to caitse him to swear y 
and the Oath come before thine Altar, in this house^ then heare thou 
in Heaven, and do, and judge thy servants. The coming before 
the altar, whether to see it or take hold of it, was for greater 
dread of God — ^pag. 44. Doubtless this coming to the Altar to 
swear, was one of the most solemne binding Bites of Swearing 
by Gods appointment. Numb. 5, 16, Psal. 43, 3, 4. 

Cicero, in his Oration for Balbus, mentions it as a custome 
among the Greeks, that persons should go to the Altars to take 
Oaths, and in his Oration for Flaccus, he saith of one, that no 
man would believe him though he held the Altar when he 
did swear, hence the Greek proverb /i^e^p^ SoDfi&Vj usq. ad 
Aras. Even now, saith Zanchius, tom. 4, Ub. i. de Juramento, 
Thes. 5, when Emperours & Kings are created, and promise 
by Oath that they will keep the Laws, they are wont to swear at 
the Altar, touching it with their hands. This ceremony, saith 
he, is from the Gentiles, and is wont to be observed onely in the 
solemne Oaths of Kings and Emperours. Thus was the King of 
England sworn at his coronation, April 23, 1661. Aristotle 
also, in 3, 1. Politico, saith, the oath was the stretching, or holding- 
out of a Scepter by a King. So saith Suidas, they termed the 
King's Scepter opKiovy because they sweared by it. These and 
many more such wayes of swearing there were among the Gen- 
tiles, of which may be seen Alexander ab Alexandre Genial, 
dier. lib. v, c. 10, Gell. noct. Attic. 1. ii. c. 6. 

E 



130 REMAINS OF QKNTILISMS. 

P. 46, 47. Lastly there was a Rite of Swearing, and Cove- 
nanting in Leagues of Amity by eating together after the Sacri- 
fice, and so it is said of Abimelech & Isaac, when there was 
an oath and covenant betwixt them, a feast was made and they 
did eate and drinke together^ Gen. 26, 28. And when Jacob 
and Laban made a covenant together, and sware one to another, 
it is said, Oten. 31, 54, Then Jacob offered aacrijicej or hilled 
beasts (as it is in the margin) upon the Mounts and called his 
brethren to eat breads and they did eat bread and tarried all night 
in the Mount. Dr. Cudworth, in his book of the true notion of 
the Lords Supper, conceives it to have been a federate Hite, as 
the feasting upon a sacrifice, and it is certain that, as the Lords 
Supper should be as a Bite that signifies our remembrance of 
Christs sacrifice, so also our joyning together into one body, 
1 Cor. 10, 16, 17, and 12, 13, and it appears by Chrysostoms 
words, Hom. 15 ad Popul. Antioch., In that thou mahest him 
swear upon the holy Tablcy where Christ offered-up is laidj 
wilt thou tltere sacrifice thy brother? that in his days there 
was a Eite among Christians to swear, and take the Sacra- 
ment of the Lords Supper upon it, and that the Table of the 
Lord was used to this end, as the Altar among the Israelites ; 
whence it is likely the custome came of confirming oaths, 
whether of Leagues of by testifying of the truth to go to the 
Communion-Table, or Altar among the Papists, and to take the 
Sacrament or Lords Supper upon it as one of the plainest 
and surest signs of their veracity & fidelity. Nor is it unlikely 
that when in the Liturgie of the Church of England, in the 
Bubrick about Matrimony, it is said, the new married persons^ 
the same day of their marriage, must recieve the Holy Communion ; 
that it was, that they might confirm thereby their marriage 
covenant. (This custome was (rarely) used by the better sort of 
people before the civU warres.) 

P. 55. Usage of swearing by creatures, came, partly, from y® 
reverence of the name & majesty of God. Bp. Sanderson, 
. . . . 5, § 2, &c. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 131 

P. 62. Paganish and Popish Oathes, which remain yet among 
US, as namely, by the Mass, Eood, Crucifix, Cross, o' Lady, 
Reliq of Saints, Angels, Martyrs, fire as Gods Angel, Gods 
precious coales, &c. 

P. 68. The Irish, at every third word, are wont to interpose 
an oath, as by the Trinity, God, y® S** Patrick, Brigit, Baptism, 
Faith, Temple, the Godfathers hand, thy hand. But to keep 
their oath, tiiese things are of greatest moment: 1. That he 
swear at the altar the book toucht, open, & put upon the head. 
2. That they take to witnesse some Saint, whose crooked staflF or 
bell he toucheth, or kisseth. 3. That he swear by the hand of 
his Earl, or Lord, or other potent man. Camden, ex Giraldo. 

Baptising. 

P. 93. Exorcisms, used by the Ancients on persons to be bap- 
tized, whereby they adjured y® Devils to go out of the person to 
be baptized, and tooke on them to blow out the evil spirit, that 
the Holy Spirit might be admitted (Nazianzen in his 4*^ Orat.of 
Bapt., Cyril, Augustin, & others, mention as practised among 
Christians).^ 

New D. 

P. 95. Camden in Hibernia, out of Giraldus. When the wild 
bish first see the new moon, they cofnonly bow their knee and 
recite the Lords Prayer, and at the end speake to the Moon 
with a loud voyce, Leave us healthy as thou hast found us, or as 
when they take the Wolves for their Godfathers, whom they 
call Chari Christ, praying for them and wishing well to them, 
and so fear not to be hurt by them. [See pp. 36, 83.] 

Charms. 

P. 96. To avoid all Superstitions, and unlawfiill Adjurations, 
especially Charming by Spells, and saying of Prayers for Cattle 

* ["Ter exsufflet leniter in faciem infantis, et dicat semel; *Exi ab eo (vel 
ab ea) inununde spiritus, et da locnm Spiritni Sancto Paraclito.'" — Kituale 
Bomannm, Ordo Baptism!. — ^Ed.] 

k2 



132 REXAINS OF GEMTILISMX. 

by old ignorant people, which are reliques of Heathenismei and 
no better than Witchcraft. 



Giving the hand. 

P. 98. seeing he hath despised the oath, by breaking 

the covenant (when he hath given his hand)^ and hath done all 
these things, he shall not escape. Ezech. 17, 15, 16, 17, 13. 

Here endeth the Excerpta out of Mr. Tombes. 



Some Customee of Eaton Schoole. 

Eaton College and schoole were founded by King Henry the 
Sixth. They doe hold some lands by a Custome of offering to 
the travellers Salt ; 'tis on (I thinke) the first day of Hilary- 
terme. The schoole-master and all his scholars goe to a Tumulus 
(or Barrow) by the Roade, near to Slough, w*^^ is about a mile 
from the College. 

Also, about Whitsuntide, I thinke on Holy-thursday, the 
schoole-boyes doe hunt a Bam, till they kill him; and then they 
have a venison-feast made of him ; they use to over-heate them- 
selves, and get the small -pox. 

Also, on Shrove-tuesday, as soon as ever the Clock strikes 
nine, all theBoyes in the Schoole cry Tfl BAKXfl, Tfl BAKXIl, 
TA BAKXn, as loud as they can yell ; and stamp, and knock 
with their sticks: and then they doe all runne out of the 
schoole. 

I am not acquainted w^ the school-master here, but I have a 
good mind to write to him for a more particular account of these 
Customes. 



IM» I ■ » II < I ^ I 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 133 



'Ti8 Midsommer^ight, or Midsommer-eve (S* Jo: Baptist) is 
counted or called the Witches night, q. M"* Fincher, &c., of the 
breaking of Hen-egges this night, in which they may see what 
their fortune will be. ' 



Of fermented lAquours. 

" Since the planting of Vineyards, seeing all Countries could 
not beare Grapes, Bacchus also taught the world to make vinum 
6 frugibus with water, as Diodorus Siculus reports, from whence 
the Egyptians had their Zithum and Curmi, the Spaniards their 
Cerea, the Turks their Cowset, and wee our Ale and Beer ; all 
these are extracted out of Corne, by the pureness and tenuitie of 
water." Mr. Jordan, pag. 108, cap. 14, Virgil. 

The Scythian's drinke was made in this manner, w®^ Virgil 
speakes of : 

Hie noctem lado dncnnt ; et pocnla laeti 
Fermento atq. acidis imitantur pocnla sorbis. 

Beanea. [See pp. 102, 182.] 

" Whereas Galen produceth the boyling of beanes as a familiar 
example to shew the tenuiiy of water, we may gather that the 
use of beanes was common in yose daies, although the Pytha- 
gorean sect did then much flourish, which were thought to 
forbid the use of them ; but I find that here hath been a great 
mistake, for Ariatoxenus, who wrote the life and doctrine of 
Pythagoras, affirms that he did delight much in that kind of 
food. But it seems the cause of this mistake was a verse in 
Empedocles, AeiXot iravheCkoi fcvdfjLcov airo xelpo^ e^eaOe, cyanis 
subducite dextras ; but he meant it of continency and abstinence 
from venerje, as Aulus Gellius doth interpret it, where Kvdfioi are 
understood to be testiculi. Cicero mentioneth the same of the 
Pythagorians, but in another sense, because Beanes were thought 



134 REMAINS OF GENTILI8MJS. 

by their flatulency to disturb our dreames, and so to hinder the 
divination which might be gathered from them, as also Middeu- 
dorssius judgeth." Mr. Jordan, of Bathes, p. 12, cap. 2. 

Prophets. 

Propbesie not ceased, e. g. that in Peter Martyr of the West 
Indies, where a West Indian propheoied, that strangers should 
come after a strange manner and possess their Countrey (see it). 

The Characteristiques of the Popes by Saint Malachy (a monk 
of Bangor) are wonderftdly Prophetique. NB. 

Mdm. 'Tis certain true that a prophet or Bardh in Caermar- 
thenshire predicted that this John Earle of Carburys father would 
be a Lord, and that his sonne would be a Lord ; this L^ grand- 
father asked further ; no, he would say no more, there would be 
an end of that family. From my worthy and reverend friend 
and neighbour, Frederick Vaughan, Esq. Bachelor of Divinity 
and Prebendary of y® Church of Sarii. About 1685, when this 
E. of Carburys father lay a dyeing, he was curious because 
of this prophesie to know if the child his daughter-in-law 
was delivered of were a son & living: 'twas a sonne, but 
dyed ; but they did not let him know so much: so he died in 
peace. 

The eigne of the Wild Man. 

This Signe is not uncommon in and about London. I confess 
I wonderd heretofore how such an odd signe should happen to 
be so in vogue, but by Rudbecki Atlantica I find it to be de- 
rived from the Suedes, as they (in all probability) from the 
Greekes. It is from (sett downe y® fig. out of 

Rudbeck.) 

01. Rudbecki Atlantica, The Suedes had Hercules for a deiiy. 
Tab. 1, fig. 20. whom they call in their language ^xilax. 

A. Populus arbor Herculi sacra. Virg. 
Bucolica, Ecloga vii. 



[Here is a figure.] 



Populus AlcidsB gratissima 

Populus in fluvijs pulcerrima. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 135 

Pliny saith, lib. 16, cap. 23, Nat. Hist, that their leaves after 
midsommer turne about upside downe (and then the white 
side appeares). The like for y® Elme, Lime tree, Olive tree, 
Aspe, and Sdlow or Willow. 

Le Blason des Armoires par Hierome 

de Bara, Lyons 1581, 4*®, wherein he 

. recites the names and coate armour of 

gnre.j three score and fourteen knights of 

King Arthur's Bound Table : whereof 

this Rovstelin is one. 

Rovstelin de Hanltmont, ^^^' ^^^ ^^*^® Supporters of George, 
d'or, a nn saunage de Prince of Denmarke (sc. that on the right 

sable embastonne de •ji\* i*i/>-rT i ^,^ 

gnenlles. Side;, IS a kind ot Hercules with a green 

club and green leaves about his pudenda 
and head, as we use to paint the signe of the greene man. 



Tregetors. 
See Chaucer's [Franklin's] Tale. [See p. 51.] 

Villaines [see p. 47] 

have a resemblance of the Servi under the Boman govern- 
ment, " but yet the Bondmen of this nation were not used with 
us so cruelly as the Bondmen of the Eomans Civil Laws, as ap- 
peareth by their Comoedies ; nor as in Greece, as appeareth by 
theirs. But they were suffered to enjoy copy-hold lands, to 
gaine and get as y' servants, that now and yen their lords might 
fleece them and take a piece of money of them, as in France the 

lords doe. 

The change of religion (as to the Christian religion) caused 
this old kind of servile servitude and slavery to be brought into 
that moderation for villaines regardants, and by little and little 
found out more civil and gentle meanes to have that donne, 
wh^^ in time of heathenisme, servitude or bondage did, they 
almost extinguished the whole." S' Th. Smythe C. Wealth, 
p. 261. 



136 B11CAIH8 OF OKNTILISME. 



A Spell. 

Arseverse (t.) averte ignem, Tasoonun lingua, arse, est averte ; 
verse, ignem significat. A spell written upon a house to 
preserve it firom burning. — Fest Holyoake's Dictionarie. 

[The puBEge in fall is: ''AnoTene, Fest A spell written npon an honae to 
preBerre it from baming. ^ Anevene, i^. aTerte ignem: Tnaoomm lingua 
Ane est Ayerte, & Verse ignem significat Alii ezponnnt Verse, i^. Verte & 
Arse, Arddrem ; Ignem, Becm. ^ Inscribat aliqnis Arse vorse in ostio, Afiran. 
^ Etiam parietes incendionim deprecationibns oonacribnntor, Plin." — ^Holyoke, 
Diet. 1677.— Ed.] 



Gablands. 

The Cuetome at Newnton on Trinity-Sundaf/. 

King Athelstan having obtained a victory over the Danes by 
the assistance of y® Inhabitants of this place, riding to recreate 
himselfe, found a woman bayting of cowe upon the waye called 
the Fosseway (w^^ is a famous way and runnes through this 
parish, and goes from Cornwall to Scotland). This woman sate 
on a stoole, with the cowe &stened by a rope to the legge of the 
stoole. The maimer of it occasioned the king to ask why she 
did so ? She answered the king, that they had no common 
belonging to the towne. The Queen being then in his company, 
by their consents it was granted, that the towne should have so 
much ground in common next adjoining to this way as the 
women would ride round upon a bare-ridged horse ; she under- 
takes it, and for ascertaining the ground, the king appointed 
S' Walter, a knight that wayted on him, to follow the woman 
or goe with her ; which being donne, and made known to the 
monks at Malmesbury (they to show their liberality upon the 
extent of the Kings charity) gave a piece of ground parcell of 
then: Inheritance and adjoyning to the churchyard, to build a 
house upon, for the Hayward to live in, to look after the Beasts 
that fed upon this common. And for to perpetuate the memory 



BEMAINS OF GENTILIBME. 137 

of it, appointed the following Prayers to be sayd upon every 
Trinity-Sunday, in that house, with the Ceremony ensueing ; 
and because a Monke of that time, out of his devotion, gave a 
Bell to be rung here at this house before prayers began, his name 
was inserted in the Petitions for that guift. 

The Ceremmiies. — The Parishioners being come to the Dore 
of the Haywards house, the Dore was struck thrice, in honour 
of the holy Trinity, then they entred ; the Bell was rung ; after 
wWch, sOence being, their Prayers aforesayd. Then was a 
Garland of Flowers made upon a hoop brought forth by a 
Mayd of the Towne upon her Neck ; and a young man, a 
Batchelour, of another parish, first saluted her three times (the 
Kiss of Peace) in honour of the holy Trinity, in respect of God 
the Father. Then she putts the garland upon his neck and kisses 
him 3 times in honour of y^ Trinity, particularly God the Sonne. 
Then he putts the Garland on her neck again and kisses her 3 
times, and particularly in honour of God the holy ghost. Then 
he takes the garland from her neck again, and by the custome 
must give her a penny at least, which (as fancy leades) is now 
exceeded, as 2«. 6(2., &c. 

The method of giving this Garland is from house to house 
annually, till it comes round. 

In this Evening every Comoner sends his supper up to this 
house, which is called the Tele-howse^ and having before layd-in 
there, equally a stock of mault, which was brewed in y® house, 
they suppe together, and what was left was given to the Poor. 

The Forme of Prayer, — " Peace goodmen peace; this is the 
house of charitie, and house of peace; Christ Jhesus be with us 
this day & evermore. Amen. 

" You shall pray for the good prosperity of our soveraigne 
lord King Hen. 8 and his Royall Issue (of late dayes K. Ch. 2^, 
Queen Katherine, Duke of Yorke, & the Test of y® Royall pro- 
genie), with all the nobility of this Land, that Almighty God 
would give them such grace wisdome & discretion, that they 



138 REMAINS OF OEMTILIBME. 

may doe all thinp^s to the glory of Qod^ the kings honour & 
the good of y^ kingdome. 

^^Ton shall pray to God that moved the hearts of King 
Athelstan, and Dame Mawd his good queen, to give this ground 
to our fore&thers & to us, and to all them that shall come after 
us, in Fee for ever. 

" You shall pray to Qod for the sowle of S' Walter, the good 
black knight, that moved his heart to our fore&yers and us this 
ground both to tread and tite, and to them that shall after us, 
in Fee for ever. 

" You shall pray to God for the sowle of Abbot Loringe that 
moved his heart to give us this ground to build this house upon, 
to our forefathers and to us and to them that shall come after us, 
in Fee for ever. 

" You shaU pray to God for the sowle of Dan [?] Aluredy the 
black Monke, that moved his heart to give the Bell to this 
house.^ 

^^ For the sowles of these Benefactors whom the Lord hath 
moved their hearts to bestow these benefitts upon us, let us now 
and ever pray. Pater noster, Ac.** 

In the late warres this Howse was burned down by y® Soldiers ; 
and the Custome of Supping is yet discontinued, togeyer with ^ 
brewing that quantity of drinke. The rest of the ceremonies 
are yet continued on the Toft, and on the old dore of the Howse, 
which yet remains, which they doe then carry thither ; and a 
small quantity of drinke, of 6 or 8 gallons, is yet drunke after 
the Garland is given. 

Mdm. About 1660 one was killed, striving to take away the 
Garland ; and the kiUer was tryed for his Ufe at SaHsbury. 

This towne did belong to Malmesbury Abbey, and was given 
by V, the Legier booke. 

Mdm. S' . . . . Gower (the Poet) hath a 
[Here is costly Monument in S* Mary Overy's church, where 
a figure.] j^^ y^g along in his scarlet gowne ; his head is en- 
circled with a kind of chaplet of silver, as in the 

^ (This bell is now at M' Richard Estconrt's honse, in yis parish.) 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 139 

margent; sc, at about every inch ^ length of gold is 
an interposition of a quaterfoile argent. I have not 
anywhere seen the like. 

" The lise of flowry Crowns and Garlands is of no slender 
Antiquity, for besides the oldGreekes and Bomans, the Egyptians 
made use hereof. This practise also extended as far as India, 
for Philostratus observes that aty® Feast w^ye Indian king, their 
custom was to wear garlands and come crowned w*» yem into 
their feasts."^ 

"The Crowns or Garlands of y* Ancients were eiyer Gestatory, 
such as they wore about their Heads, or Necks ; Portitory, such 
as they carried at Solemne Feasts; Pensile or suspensory, such as 
they hanged about y* Posts of their Houses in honour of their 
Gods, as of Jupiter ThyraBUs, or Limeneus, or els they were 
Depository, such as they layd upon the Graves and Monuments 
of y® Dead. For the making of them these were employed, 
arTe^avonXjSKOc. These garlands were convivial, festival, sacri- 
ficial, nuptial, honorary, fimebrial."^ 

At y* feasts in the halls of the City of London the stewards doe 
wear garlands of Laurel ; in some places in the countrey they 
hang up Festival Garlands, and on Mayday adome the may-poles 
wy them ; as to nuptial, and honorary I can say little ; but 
ftmeral garlands for young maydens, are still in use, and dedicated 
to the church, hanging over the Grave. 

In Zerbst in Anhalt in Germany 40 yeares ago was the 
fashion to give every man or Batchelor a garland and a. hand- 
ketcher at the weddings : But now in stead of a Garland they 
give a Lemon or orange. But by the common sort of people 
garlands are still in use. [W. K.] 

Cakes* 

Fertum, genus libi, a cake made of sundry graines and spices : 
strues, a certain Cake w*^^ the Paynims offered to the Gods. So 
we have still our Cake at Home-harvest, at Easter, and Whitson- 
tide. Also Wedding, and Christning-cakes, and Funeral cakes. 

> S' Th. Browne's Miscellanies, pag. 89. 

* Newnton in Malmesb. Hundred, de Garland, in lib. A. 



140 BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Not working on Hohfdaies. 

ColnmeUa, lib. 2, cap. 22, delivers what Works were not to be 
permitted upon the Bonum Ferial or Festivals. 

Cerealia, or CaJtea^ in part 

« Gates.— Pliny affirmeih, that the Pulticuk thereof (might 
it not be oatemeale ?) was most in nse among the Germans ; 
yet that the Jews were not without all use of this Grain seemes 
confirmable from the Rabbinical account, who reckon five Grains 
liable unto their offerings, whereof the Cake presented might be 
made, that is, Wheat, Oates, Rye, and two sorts of Barley."^ 

Mazes. [See p. 208.] 

I have reason to believe from Budbecks Atlantica that we 
recieved our use of Mazes (labyrinths, Miz-mazes) from the 

Danes. — See there Tab. 35, fig. 132, cap as they from 

the Egyptians and Greekes ; see Pliny, lib. xvi. cap. 13, de 
Labyrinthis. 

Fortune TeUera. 

" Neq. sic ideo Druidum genus penitus abolitum erat, 

quin foeminas vaticinatrices ac fatidicas ab ipsis oriundas sub 
Alexandre Severe & Aureliano floruisse supra ostendimus & 
quosdam in Gallijs h stirpe Druidorum satos testatur Auso- 
nius." ^ 

Chere in bowles ; an old expression. 

Refer this to [page 142], where is mention of the Song sung 
at Queen's College, in Oxford, on Christmas Day, when one of 
the scholars brings-up the Bores head, singing Caput Apri 
affero, &c, I doe believe, that this custome was very ancient^ 

» S' Th. Brown's Miscellanys, p. 23. 

» Th. Smyth, S,T.?. CoU, Magdal. Oxon, 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. I4l 

perhaps it might be derived from the Sus Oaledonius. v. Meleager 
aprum occidit, Homer's Iliads, Iota. Ovidij Metamorph. lib. viii. 
Fab. 4. 

Homer^B lUadsy ISnaj p. 356, v. 539. [543 et seqq.] 

T^y y vibg OlvyoQ d^iereivep MeXkaypoQ^ 
HoXKkatv S* lie TToXidiv Orip^TopaQ dvdpag Ayiipas 
Kai K{ffiag^ oi) fikv ydp k* kddfjiri iravpourt Pporolvi 
Toffaog Ijjv, woXKoifg dk irvprig kirkptitr* (iXcyeti^f 
*H ^ dfi^' ai/T& OriKe woXiiv KBKadov xai Avrdt 
*A/JU^i <rvbg Ke^aXrj cd dsp/iar Xaxvrievri, 

In GemmdB et sealptm*ae antiquae depictsB ab Leonardo Augusti, 
no. 1685, there is to be seen Caput Meleagri et apri Calydonij, 
13, in Comicla. 

At . . : . • 9 in Switzerland, they doe itatacertainei i.« [ 

of r year, goe out and kiU a wild bore, which they fasten 
on a horse as riding astride, and so march with him into the 
City with Musick, and much jollity ; I have seen the draught of 
it engraven. Dr. Jo. Pell had it, who showed it to me. 

The armes of the Deanery of Exeter is 
as in the margent expressed. There 
was some reason heretofore, for this 
change of the Boare's-head. There is a 
lordship in Kent called Denford (but 
one house on it), which paies to the 
Deanery of Exeter. Dean of Rochester, a Boare at Christmas 

or at Christmas Day. 
Bowles's Coate. Boares, as a Crest, were accounted 

very honourable ; e. ff. the crests of King 
Richard 3, the Earles of Oxford, &c. 

I believe the name of Bowles came 

from an OfiSce of bearing or carrying a 

The boares heads should be— Bowle w** a Bores head to a L* Abbot's 

argen , angue gui . ^^ ^ great lord's table on some festivall 

day at Christmas. The first dish, archidapifer, q. if the Archi- 



142 BEMAIKS OF GENTILISME. 

dapifer Elector carries a Boares-head ; ^ so we carry up y* 
Collar of Brawne y* first dish. 

This song is sung on Christmas-day in the Hall at Queen's 
Coll. in Oxford, by one of the Taberders : but in the chorus all 
the Company doth assist. 

The Boars Head in hand bear I 
Bedeckt w^ Bays and Rosemary, 
And pray my Masters merry be 
Qnot estis in convivio. 

Chobub. — Capnt apri defero, 

Beddens landes Domino. 

The Boars head as 1 understand 
Is the bravest dish in all onr land, 
And thus bedeckt w^ a gay Grarland 
Let ns seryire cantico. 

Chob. — Caput apri, &c. 

Our Steward hath provided this 
In honour of the King of Bliss, 
Which on this day to be served is 
In Beginensi atrio. 

Chob. — Caput apri, &c. 

The custome at Queen's Coll. on Newyeares day in y^ 
morning, that the Deane (or Bm'sar) quaere, gives to every one 
of the Fellowes & scholars a Needle threaded saying, take this 
and be a good husband. D' Locky sayd it was a Rebus for 
Eglefild, the founder's name ; aiguille fil. 

The Eumpe Parliament employed Mr. Blaeu, of Amsterdam, 
to survey Scodand, w°^ is accurately done ; when he describes 
the High-landers, he speakes of their worshipping of the new- 
moon ^ and severall other superstitions, w*^^ see in his Atlas, in 
Bibl. Bodleana.: E. W[yld] Esq. 

* n porte d'aznre, three boares' heads argent in bowles d'or, by the name of 
bowles. 
« [See p. 36.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 143 

HoMEBS Iliads, Geneva, mdciiii. 

Vzctvnfis ^ 

Feasts, i ^*- ^ P"^' ^^' 
When they had ended the sacrifice they began the feasts, e.g. 

V. 469. 

AvrAp kwki womog xai kdriruoc 1$ epov Isvto^ 
Kovpoi fikv Kparrjpag kiretrrerj/avTO woroXo. 
Na)|ii7(rav d'dpa itaaiv^ kTrap^dfievoi ^eiraktjaiv 
Ol ^k itavfiidpioi fioXwy Bebv iKclgkovto 
KaXitv deidovrsc iravqova^ Kovpot 'Axcu&v^ 
MsXirovTeg ^Eieacpyor, 6 dk <Jipkva rkpiriT dxoviav. 

The like description in lib. H., p. 278, v. 313. 

Salt and Barley in Sacrifices. 

B. p. 76, V. 421. 

Abrdp kirei p&b^avro^ xai ovXoxvrag irpofiaKovTO^ 

Molas, sc. cakes made of salt and barley. 

Lotts, 

H, p. 270, Y. 169. 

HdvT^g dp* oiy eOeXov 'troXifiH^eiv "EicTopi Aiy 
Toig d* dvrig fierseiTTi Ttpriviog iwwoTa "iieiTTwp 
KXrjpio wv TrsiraXaxOe diafnrepkg, '6g ks Xdxri<nv 
'OvTog ydp di^ bviiau svKvrifiidag 'Axctiovg. 
* « * 4> 

Qg i<lta0* 01 Sk KXripov karifirivavTO eKatrrog 
'Ev ^ i^oKov Kvvky 'AyafJLSfivovog ^Arpii^ao 
Aaol ^ ripfi<fdvTO^ OBoZffi $k x^^P°-S dvkcxov. 

Feasts at Funeralls. 
Achilles makes a fdnerall Feast at his friend Fatroclus's death. 

-4^. p. 864, V. 28. 

Kdd* d* *iXov irapd v^i noduKeog AiaKiSa 
"yiifpioi dvrdp 6 Toiffi ra^ov fittH}itKka daiw» 
UoXXol fikv pSig dpyol^ Sec. 



144 RBMAIKS OF GBKTILI8ME. 

Of spirits appearing and not resting in peace without buriaU. 

^. p. 866, T. 62. 

Bvrf ' r6y twvoQ Iftoftwn^ Xvmv fUKtdijfiara Ovfuw^ 

Vtfivfioc ^fif ixv^c^*— - 

*'HXOe ^ Iwi ^nfxA IlarpojcXfoc ^eiXoiO 

Tl6.wr' avnf fuyeBSQ n mi ififiora koX'^ ttanoj 

Kal fmy^ gal rota wepi xpoc e'lftara ivo, 

Sr^ S'&p* vwkp K€^akii£j %at fuv wpbc fiv06v htmy, 

ES^ecC) aifrdp Ifuio Xekacftkvo^ iirXtv 'AxiXXev. 

O^ fuv Z*iM>VTOQ dKTiietCy dXXA Oavovrof 

Sdwre fi€ Sm r&x^*'^^ frvXae 'AV^ao iciptqvm 

TriKk fu etpywTi ^^oi tiiuXa tafiAvTtav^ 

Ovri fu inag filayeoBcu virip Trorafuito i&mv 

'AW' avTiog AXdKijfiai kv ei/pvirvkkc 'Ai^o^ d&. 

Casting drinke on y* ground. 

H. p. 288, V. 480. 

Ilpiv TTuetv irpiv Xeci^ai virep/ilvei Kpoitwvi, 

Tomhe Sf Pillar. 
Sarpedons Monument. 

n. p. 644, y. 673. 

Qr)ffOV<r^ Iv AvKitic eitpiitiQ wiovi BrifAot 

*Ev9d irapxviTovtTi KairiyvijToi ri st(u re 

TvfiPia Tt arfiXri re* rb ydp ykpaq kori OavSvrtav, 

Sindging of Stoine. 

I. p. 352, T. 467. 

IloXXot Sk ffveg OaXidovreg dKoiipfi 
EvSfievoi ravvovTo Sid ^Xoybg *H^at(rroto, 

Sacrificing wine to the Gods. 

I. p. 362, V. 667. 

*'Qc ^off' ol Sk IsKa^OQ Ikuv Seirae dfj^iKvirikXov 
^7reiaavT€Q^ vapd vrjag laav ndXiv. 

Throvnng dust on ones head in numming. 

Q p. 926, V. 162. 

AdKpvtriv Bifiar ti^vpov 6 S* Iv pk(r(roitn yBpaibg 
*EvTvvds kv xXaii/y KBKaXvfifxkvog dfi^i Sk iroXXi) 
JLoirpog li|y re^oXy re xai aitx^vi rdio ykpovTog, 

' Achillem. 



REBIAINS OF GENTILISME. 1 45 



Washing of hands before Sacrifice. 

a p. 934, V. 363 [302], King Priam. 

iLii^iTcoKov rafAtriv iarpw* 6 yepaid^ 

Xepffiv ^Sutp iirixivai dicriparov rg dk vapk*»riy 
XipviPov df/uftivoXoc, wpoxoov ff ^fuz, x'^9^^^'*' exowra, 
"Si^l/d/ievoc dkj KvinWov idk^aro ^s iiKoxoio, 
Evxcr' e'^r£^Ta ?df /utTtft ipfce^ Xei/Se dk olvovy 
Ohpavbv elffavidufV i^ ^wv^croc iiroc ffiSa 
"Zew irarep, &c. 



Lotts. [See p. 90.] 

a. p. 938, y. 399. 

*'E$ de oi vleg ea<nv, iyw dk ol kpdofwg etfu. 

Twv fura iraXXofUvog, KXript^ \dxov kvOa^ 'imaBai.^ 

Time of Mourning. 

a p. 954, V. 669 [664]. 

'Ewijfiap fUv Kovrbv ivi fieydpoig yodoi/uv^ 
Ty deiedry Se kb BdvToifAevy dalvvro re \a6g' 
'EvSeKdry $k ice rvfAJiov kv aifr^ Trouiffai/iev. 

Giving of the right Hand. 

Ibid. V. 676 [671]. 

*Qf dpa ^vrfffag, ktri Kapjrf X^^ ykpovTog 
'^WaPe dB^iTBprjVj firiirwg dsiaei kvl Ov/if . 

Singing at Funeralls. [See p. 81.] 

a p. 956 [719]. 

— rhv fUv Iwfiro 
TptiToig kv Xcxeeem Okoav^ irapd ^ dtrav doiioi^g^ 
Op^vuw k^dpxovg, oire fTTOvoecoav <4oi^i}v 
01 nkv op kOprivBoVj kvl $e ^Bvdxovro yvvaiiceg. 
Tytriv ^ *Avdpofidxfl \evKuii\Bvog rjpx^ yoo o, &c. 

Then Hecuba (Hector's mother) makes her speech; then 
Helen. 

L 



146 BEXAINS OF GXNTILISME. 



Suppers at Funeralls. 

a p. 962, T. 734 [801]. 

— Avrdp iwnira 
Ed ffwoyf ip^/ieyoc, Baiywr' ipumd&i. Bavra 

WcuMng of hands before Prayer. 

I. p. 334, y. 171. 

^kpn Sk x^^" ^i^tpi ehffiiiiitrcd, re Kkk^aOE^ 
"O^pa Alt KpoviBy dpti<y6/u9\ auc' {keriay. 

Achilles singing the Acts of Heroes to his harpe in his tent. 
1. p. 336, ▼. 186. 

Tbv S* eipov ^kva npirSfievov ^p/uyyi X«yhy, 
KaXy SaiSciKky (kfri S' dpyvpeoc Kvyhs Hev). 
Ti)v aper i^ Ivdp^tv wSXtv Hertitfvof 6\£<r<rac, 
Ty hye Bvftbv lrif>irev, aetSe S'&pa gkea dvip&v. 

Saying Grace. Sacrifice before Meate. 

I. p. 338, ▼. 220 [219]. 

^— Oeoifft Sk Bvffcu <iv(tfye& 
UdrpOKKov^ 8v haipov. 6 S* Iv mpi paXXe Oo^Xo^. 

LoUs. 

yp, p. 912, y. 861. At y« Games. 

KXnpse ^ Iv Kwky x<iXk4p6( vdXKov kXovree. 

Lotts. 

r. p. 124, V, 316. 

KX^psc Iv Kvviy x^f^VP^^ vaXKov iXovrecj 
'OvTrSrepoc ^i) vpdirOev dtpitti x^X^*^ *7X<*f* 
Aaoi d* rjpri<ravTo, Qedifri dk x^H^^S dvkffxov* 
*. * * * 

''Of ap* ipaviruXKev Sk fikyag KvpvOaloXog ^EKTwp^ 
*A^ op6iav, Hdpiog dk Oo&g U kKiipos opovaev. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMB. 147 * 



Glories. 

2. p. 714, V. 206. 

XpvaeoVf Ic S'avrov date ^\6ya va/i^dvounrap. 

To y Good Health. 

1. p. 338, v. 224. Ulysses. 

HKxiff&luv Off ^olvoio Skvac deidBier^ 'AxtX^fl. 
** Xaip* 'AxiXev — — ■ 

Homer's Odysses. Apud John Vignon, mdcix. 

OJ^er Wine to the Gods. 

B. p. 54, Y. 25 [427]. 

dfi^i dk KVfta 

Sretpy vop^vpeov fA€ydK* tdx^ tnibg lovariQ. 
*'B. S* eOiev Kard Kv/m diairftriffffBtra i^\ev9ov, 
Atjffd/ievoi ^ apa ^w\a Ooiiv &vd vija fuKaivaVj 
^TfiaavTO Kparrjpas kwi(TT4^Bag olvoXo, 
Aelpov d* aiOavdrouTi OboXq aieiyevirtiaiv, 
'Ec vdvTtap dk fiaXi?a Aibg yXavKbiinBij Kovpy, 

r. p. 56, V. 23 [532]. 

'AXX' aye, rdfivBTB fjikv yXuKTtyag, KBpdcurOe Sk olvov^ 
'O^pa TioaBi^dtavi if SKKoiq dOavdroitrt 
^miffavreg, Koiroto fiediafieOa* roio ydp wpii. 

Offer Wine to Mercury at Bedtime. 

H. p. 198, V. 12 [136]. 

Evpe ^k ^cuiiKiav tiytiTopoQ i^Sk fUdovrag 
^irivdovrag dsvdeaciv kvffKb'irifi 'A^yeupovTy, 
*Q Trvfidrut (nrMe.axov^ ore nvtiaalaro Koirs, 

Wine-offering to Jupiter, 

H. p. 200, V. 20 [179]. 

KpriTrjpa Kepa<r<rafUpog fi49v vtX/wv 

ndviv dvd fUyapov, 'iva i^ Ai'i T€p7riKepavv(p 
Sireierofiev, oa^ heiryffiv aft aidoioiaiv dmideX, 

' Propinavit. 
L 2 



148 BSXAINB OF GBiniLISlfB. 



Washing hands before Prayer, 

M. p. 378. T. 20 [336]. 

The Mahometans doe so, to this day. 

'AW* 8re ^i) did vriaov /wv ^Xv^a iraipwc, 
XtXpciQ vi'^dfuvo^i hff Iwi ffieiiraQ ^ dvi/wiOf 
*Epiaftfiv wdvreffoi 0co7c, oc 'OXvftirov Ixbo'iv. 
01 S* dpa fun yXvicdv drvov M Skifapotaiv ix€vay. 

White Barley used in Invocations to tf Crodsy in Danger. 

»L 380, y. 9 [358]. Moyste's drinke Qffering. 

Oi ydp ixov xpTXevvdv iv^oA/u* lire vif6c. 

Drinke-offering. 

r>id. Y. 10 [369]. 

Aitrdp lirel ^ iv^avro^ i^ l<r^a!iav ^ iSeipav^ 
MtipovQ T i^€Tafi€Vy icard re KvUray IcoXv^otv, 
AiiTTVxa woi7i<ravTec, lir' dtn'Civ uffio9eni<rav. 
OifS ilxov fiiOv XeXtffai kir alOofUvoig lepolffiv^ 
'AXK' ^dari trwivdovreg ixiaimav tyKora wavra. 

Grace Cup. 

It is of great antiquity, see concerning it in Athenasiis: but 
D' Th. Guydol M.D. hath writt very fully of it in his learned 
Book, sc. Historia ^sculapii, a MS. Concerning the grace cup, 
read Stuckius. In D' Godwin's Roman Antiquities, lib. ii. cb. I. 
He mentions, Poculum charitatis boni genij. 

Sacred Oak. 

T. p. 692, V. 29 [296]. 

T6v d'iQ A(adb)vriv ^aro piifiEvcUj 6^pa OsoXo 
'Ek dpvbc wpix^fioto Acdc /3ovX])v iiraffov<ry. 

Glories of Saints. 

2. p. 670, V. 9 [363]. 

'Efiirfig fioi SoKsei SaUiav ffekag tfjLfievai avrov 
Kai Kt^cikTJg 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 149 



Passage of Souls over Whinny-moore^ Yorksh. [See p. 31.] 

2.p 676, V. 3 [417]. 

*AXX* dyer olvoxoog fikv kwap^aoBia StirdifTffiv^ 
'O0JOO trireitravTec KaruKtiofUv oixaS l6vT£g, 

Q. p. 718 in initio [t. 9]. 

— - ijpx^ S'Sipa c^iv 
*Epfi€iac oKaKtira xar ebpdevra JceXcvOa. 
n<ip ^ iaav 'QKiavov re podQ i^ XevKaSa vkrpipf^ 
*Hdk irap i^eXioio wvXag i^ drifiov 'Ovetpcav, 
"R'ioaV aiipa d* movto kut our^odeXbv Xei/iwi/a, 
"EtfOd re vcuovtri ^x^h ^''S^Xa Ka/wvnav, 



Kissing. 

Taking by the Hand, 

a p. 740, V. 25 [397]. 

^KpyyrpucKivoi^ Masters of the Feast 

Sc. at the Feast was a Sacrifice, as is to be seen by many 
instances in Homer. The Master of tlie Feast tooke care that 
noon dranke too little or too much. See Theod. Beza's Notes 
on the New Testament. 'Tis now the Magjor Domo. 

Chimnies. 

Hearths are of greater antiquity than chimneys. Hearths 
were first used both for sacrifices and houses, e. g. Temple-hall, 
&c. 

Sectaq. fmnosis exta dedere focis. — Ovid. Fastoru' lib. iv. [638]. 

Adas, pro aris & focis. 

Caminus, icdfiivo^, was the chimney where they melted their 
Oares. 



150 BEXAIHS OF GEMTILISKX. 



HighlanderB (in Scatlatid). 

Piacis adhQC illi popalo sine fraade natabat — Ovid. Fast lib. y. [yi. 173]. 

I have heard some of 01. Cromwels army say, that the High- 
landers ate only oate-meale and water and milk : that their Rivers 
did abound with Trowtes bat they had not the witt to take them 
till the English taught 'em. 

^^ The Laplanders solenme manages, and beginne the same 
with^r^ andflynty as with a mystery so aptly applied to the 
image of stone as if it had been reoeaved from the middest of 
Grecia. For, in that they adhibit a mystery to fire, as they doe 
not this alone (forasmuch as the Bomans observed the same 
custome) even so are they herein partly to be comended in that 
they use the ceremonies of so noble a people. The mystery of 
the Flynt is no lesse to be praysed, both forasmuch as this is 
domesticall Philosophie, and hath also a neer affinitie and signi- 
fication to these solemnities. For as the flynt hath in it fire being 
hid, which appeareth not but by mouvinge and force, so is 
there a secret life in both kindes of man and woman, which by 
mutuall conjunction cometh forth to a lining birth," ^ 

I have a conceit that the Highlanders have something of this 
custome, de quo quasre. 



CATULLUS, CUM NOTIS VABIOBU'. TRAJEOTI AD RHBNUM, 1659. 

SneeziTUf. 

De Acme et Septimio. Epig. 46. [xlv. 8, 9]. 
Hoc nt dixit, Amor, sinistram, nt ante, 
Dextram stemuit adprobationem. 

Drumme^ or rather Tabour. Epigr. 64 [Ixiii. 9, 10]. 

Tympanmn, tubam, Cybelle, tna, mater, initia; 
Qnatiensq. terga tauri teneris cava digitis. 

> Appendix to Peter Martyr'8 Decads, pag. 272. 



i 



BEMAINS OF GEaffTILISME. 151 

"— - The army being enflamed with this speech, and making 
shew of a resolution to fight, Scipio coinending their good will, 
sent them away and gave them charge to feed and be ready and 
in armes at the sound of the Trumpet and Drumme " ^ (see the 
original in Qreeke, I suspect it is a mistake). 

Periwigges. 

"Periwigges were wome by Hannibal for a disguise." — 
Polybius, lib. iii. 148, D. 

TiBULLUS. 

Dreames. 

Ipse procnraTi ne possent sseya nocere 

Somnia, ter sanota deyeneranda mola. [I. v. 13, 14]. 

Not-ploughing on ffolt/'daies. 

Luce sacra reqniescat hnmns, reqniescat arator; 
Et grave snspenso Yomere cesset opns. — ^Lib. ii. eleg. 1 [6-6]. 

• •••• ••• 

non audeat nlla 
Lanificam pensis imposaisse mannm [9-10]. 

Taking Penance in a White Sheete. Lib. L eleg. 3 [29-30]. 

Ut mea yotivas persolyens Delia noctes [yoces], 
Ante sacras, lino tecta, fores sedeat. 

It seemes in those dayes they did their Penance i , n \ 
the Church dore. 

Lih. ii. eleg. 5 [89-90], 

Ille' leyls stipnlsB sollennes potos acervos 
Accendet, flammas transilietq. sacras. 

Purgationum qua die Paliliam [sic] fiebant, meminit Ovidius : 
sed mos iste transiliendi ignem S foeno et stipulis excitatu, cujus 
Propertius quoq' meminit lib. iv. valde notandus est : quia ex eo * 

> Polybins, lib. iii. about y middle. ' Pastor. 



152 BEMAIKB OF GKNTILISMS. 

cognoBcimiis ande mo6 ille esset ortus quo et veteres qnidem 
Christiani leguntnr usi, ignem transQiendi oerta anni die, expia- 
tionis causa et divinationis Theodoritos — aliam originem illius 
fecit, explicans morem transmittendi filios per ignem, cujns 
ssepe fit mentio in vetere Foddere : adhuc bu& setate servatam a 
nonnnllis fnisse earn oonsnetadinem scribit, idq. ae in qnibusdam 
civitatibns fieri Tidisse testator. Diem non indicat hnjos supsti- 

tionis Atq. nt Pamium catharmi exennte vere, ant 

ineunte SBstate agitabantor a Rnstiois Bomanis, sic isti Jnnij die 
xxiij ant xxiv, in quam Joannis BaptistsB natalis incidit, ignem 
d foeno excitatmn transiliebant — Casaubon. 

LO). iiu Eleg. 4 [9-10]. 

Et Tatimi yentora hominiim genns omina noctis 
Fane pio placant k saliente sale. 

Ibid. Apollo* 8 Harp in parts it. or Hi, [i6. 39]. 
Hanc primnm Teniens plectro modnlatos ebnmo. 

Friar* 8 frocks J 8f Shavelings. 
Qui grege linigero circnxndatns, et grege calvo. — Javenal, Sat. yi. [533] 

Perhaps they were like the white friars, as jr® Morocco fashion. 

Nunc dea linigera colitnr celeberrima tarba. — 

Oyid. Mecam, lib. i. [747] de Iside et sacerdotibas ejus. 

Linigeri fagiant calyi, sistrataq. tnrba. — 

Martial, Ep. Ub. xij. Ep. 29 [19]. 

Propbrtius. 
Hardmen. Lib. i. eleg. 12 [9-10]. 

InyidifB fnimas: nnm me Deas obrait? an qnae 
Lecta Prometheis diyidit* herba jngis. 

* (i) deyovit [no]. 






BEMAINS OF GENTIUSME. 153 



See Ovid's Metamorph. lib. xii. fab. 4 and 5 [165—174], 

Tisnm mirabile cunctifl, 



Quod juyeni corpus nallo penetrabile telo, 
Inyictnmq. ad vnlnere erat, f ermmq. terebat. 
Hoc ipsnm .^lacides, hoc mirabantnr Achiyi: 
Com sic Nestor ait; Yestro fait nnicus asYO 
Contemptor ferri, nnlloq. forabilis ictn 
Oycmui at ipse olim patientem Yubiera mille 
Corpore non Iseso, PerrhaBbum Caenea yidi; 
Gflsnea Ferrh»bmn qui f actis inclytas, Othrjn 
Incoluit.— 



See Libavios de Oruentatione Cadaverum de hoc. 



nata (herba)* prime ex cmore & sanie in terram Btillante, dnm Frome- 

thei jecnr aqnila rostro lancinans in Cancaso depasceretnr. Ejus flos prominet 
cnbiti mensnra, colore corycio assimilis croco, canle gemino, radix sub terra caro 
yidetor recens incisa, snccn' nigricante esse tanqnam phagi. Nee yim item tacet; 
Si, inqnit, Froserpins re diyina nocta peracta hoc corpns linias, ferro nnllatenns 
oblffidi poteris: neq. item ignis incendia sentire. — Bhodigin. 

Captain Carlo FarUom (a Croatian) spake 13 languages, was a 
Captain nnder the Earle of Essex. S' Eob. Pye was his Colonel, 
who shot at him for not returning a horse which he tooke away 
before the Regiment. This was donne in a field near Bedford, 
where the army then was, as they were marching to the relief of 
Gainsborough. Many are yet living that sawe it. Capt. Hamden 
was by ; the 2 bullets went thorough his Buff-coat, and y® Capt. 
H. sawe his shirt on fire. Capt. Carlo Fantom tooke the Bullets 
and sayd to S' Eob. — Here, take your bullets again. None of the 
soldiers would dare to fight with him, they said they would not 
fight w^ the Devil. E. W[yld] Esq. was very well acquainted 
with him, and gave me many a Treat : and at last he prevailed 
with him so far, towards the knowledge of this secret, that 
Fantom told him, that the Keepers in their Forests did know a 
certain herb, which they gave to Children, which made them to 
be shott-fi'ee (they call them Hard-men). He had a world of 
Cutts about his body with swords. He was very quarrelsome, 
and a great Ravisher. He left the Parliament Party, and went 

' Promethemn, Apollonins Argonanticon, iii. 



154 RKMAIN8 OF GKNTILISME. 

to y^ King Ck y* first at Oxford, where he was hanged for 
Bavishing. 

R[obert] E[arl] of Essex G^eral for y* Parliament, had this 
Captain Fantom in high esteem: for he was an admirable Horse- 
offioer, and taught the Cavahy of y* army the way of fighting 
with Horse; y* General saved him firom hanging twice for 
Bavishingy once at Winchester, 2ndly at St. Albans, and he was 
not content only to ravish himselfe, but he would make his 
soldiers doe it too, and he would stand by & looke on. He met 
(coming, late at night, out of y^ Horseshoe Tavern, in Drury 
Lane) with a Lieutenant of GoL Bossiter, who had great jingling 
spurres on ; s^ he, the noise of your spurres doe offend me, you 
must come over the Kennel and give me satisfaction. They 
drew, and passt at each other & the lieutenant was runne 
thorough & died wh^ an hour or two: and 'twas not known, 
who killed him. 

S* he, I care not for your Cause, I come to fight for your halfe- 
crown & -f handsome woemen ; my father was a K. Catholiq. 
and so was my grandfather. I have fought for the Christians 
against the Turkes, and for the Turkes against the Christians. 

Li a Booke of Trialls by Duell in fol. (writ by . . . Segar 
I thinke) before the Combatants fight, they have an Oath ad- 
ministered to them by the Herald ; where is inserted (among 
other things), that they have not about them either Charm, or 
Herb.i 

Mdm. Martin Luther, in his Commentarie on the first (or 
second Commandemenfc, I thinke y® first) saies, that a Hard-man 
was brought to y« D. of Saxonies Court ; he was brought into 
y® great hall and was commanded to be shott, with a Musquet ; 
the bullet drop't downe and he had only a blew spott on his skin, 
where he was struck. Martin Luther was then by, and sawe 
the bullet drop downe. 

They say that a silver bullet will kill any Hardman, and can 
be beaten to death with cudgels. The Elector Palatine, Prince 
Eoberts Brother, did not believe at all that any man could make 
himself hard. [W. K]^ 

» See this, I think, in S' W. Dngdale. * [See pp. 76, 77, and Appendix.] 



BSMAmS OF GEKTILISMB. 155 



Eleg. 17, Wb. 1 [21-22]. Roses on Graves, 

Ula meo caros donasset fanere crines: 
Molliter et tenera poneret ossa roaa. 

Inter omnes flores, quibus veteres sepulchra sua accumula- 
bant, prinoipatum qaendam obtenuisse videtur Bosae, quametiam 
GrsBci mentionem faciunt. Anacreon, ode eh poSov* 

Tb dk j^ voffovaiv Apxei 
Td dk j^ viKpoXg Afwvii, 

Bomani vero Hosarum adeo Aiere studios!, ut jis post mortem 
monumenta sua spargi supremo judicio nonnuDquam jusserint, 
legato ad banc rem relioto, cui plerumque haec erat adnexa 
conditio, ut in Bavennati inscriptione legimus : Ut. quotannis. 
Bosas. ad. monumentum. eius. deferant. Here are added two 
more old ISS. to the same purpose. 

See my Antiquities of Surrey [iv. 185], where in the parish 
of [Ockley] some graves have Bose-trees planted at the head & 
feete ; and some are adorned annually. I thinke (I have now 
forgot) 'tis for young people, whose sweet-hearts take this care, 
w*'^ appeares here to be derived from the Ancients.^ 

M™ Smyth's notion of men being metamorphosd into Trees, 
and Flowers is ingeniose; sc, they planted a Tree, or a flower on 
the grave of their friend, and they thought the soule of the party 
deceased went into the tree or plant. 

They planted a tree at the birth of children^ I think some- 
thing of it in the life of y^ poet Vergil. 

Sc: the grove of Ashes without Boulington-parke, were planted 
at the birth of a son, w*^ William, Earle of Pembroke, in King 
James the first time planted. The child dyed very young. 

* [The passage miis thus: ** In the chnrchjard are many red rose-trees planted 
among the grayes, which have been there beyond man's memory. The sweet- 
heart (male or female) plants roses at the head of the grave of the loyer deceased; 
a maid that lost her dear twenty years since, yearly hath the grave new tnrf 'd, 
and continues yet unmarried."— Ed.] 



I 



156 BS1CAIK8 OF GENTILI8ME. 



Names in Barhe of Trees. [See p. 57,] 

Ah qnoties teneras resonant mea yerba snb unbras, 
Scribitor et Testris Cjmthia oorticibus. 

[Lib. I. eleg. xyiiL 21-22.] 

The initial letters of names are frequently made in the Barkes 
of Trees still. 

Caleshes. 

Si te forte meo dncet via prozima bnsto, 
Eaaeda cnlatis siBte Britanna jngis. — [lib. II. L 74, 75.] 

See Csesar, lib. iv. de bello Gallioo. 

Lib. iv. Eleg. iii. Hibemiq. Q^tse, pictoq. BritanniaB cnrru. 



Testis, qnem niyemn qnendam percnssit, Adonin, 
Venantem Idalio yertice dnms aper. — [lib. II. xiy. 63, 54.] 

D. Hieronymus in comment iii. Ezeoh. Adonem interfectom 
esse ab apro scribit, idq. mense Junio contigisse, k quo Adonis 
Thammuz dictus. 

In hoc plangitur k mulieribus quasi mortuus & postea revi- 
viscens canitur atque laudatur. 

Homrchurch in Essex. See part the ii. [p. 76.] ^ 

Incipiam captare f eras, et reddere pinn 
Comna [lib. II. xix. 19, 20.] 

Cervorum & id genus ferarum comua de arboribus sacris 
suspensa Numinibus dedicabant, & Dianae imprimis : Ovid 
Met. Teliq. habet instar, in ilia, quaB fderant pinu votivi comua 
cervi. (Plutarchus, templis omnibus DianaB comua cervorum 
adfigi moris fuisse.) 

Jewes veird at divine Service^ with white (I think) flannell. 

Ante tnosq' pedes ilia ipsa adoperta sedebit.^[lib. II. xxyiii. 45.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISIUE. 157 

" Duo adorationis signa^ velari, & sedero. de velatione notis- 
timu vel ex lUo, Et caput ante aras Phrygio velavit amictu. 
sic Plant, in Curcul." Qui hie est, qui operto capite ^sculapium 
salutat?" 

Virg. lib. iii. ^neid. [403-5.] 

Qain, nbi transmissse steterint trans asquora classes, 
£t positis aris, jam vota in litore solves: 
Forpnreo yelare comas adopertns amictu. 



Qnnm yidet accensis devotam cnrrere tssdis 
In nemns, & Triyise Imnina ferre Dese. 

Intelligit ferias, quae Idibus Augusti Dianas fiebant 

Mai» Mercurimn creastis Idas. — ^Mart. lib. xi. Ep. Ixxiij. 

Angnstis redit Idibns Diana.— pib. XII. Ixvii.] 

Atq. onerare tnam fixa per arma domnm. — ^Lib. III. eleg. yii. [ix. 26.] 

Before the Civil warres, a Justice of peace's hall was 60 fur- 
nished, & lookt dreadfull. 

Diq. Deseq. omnes, quibus est tntela per agros, 
Frffibebant yestris yerba seconda focis. — ^Eleg. xi. [xiii. 41, 42]. 

Table-hookes, 

Vulgari buxo sordida cera fuit— Eleg. xxi. [xxiii. 8]. 

Siquis. 

I, pner, et citns haec aliqna propone colmnna ; 
Et dominn' Esqnilijs scribe habitare tnmn. — [xxiii. 23, 24]. 

Lib. IV. 
Bonfires. Feu dejoye. 

Annnaq. accenso celebrare Falilia foeno. — ^Eleg i. [19]. 



158 BXKAINB OF GINTILISICE. 



Oogor et h tabnla pictos ediaoere miindoB.— Eleg. iii [37]. 

Ibid. [59, 60]. Schrieeh-owlej 4r Thief in ^ Candle. 

Sire in finitimo gemnit stans noctna tigno, 
Sen Tolnit tangi parca Incenut mero. 

Eleg. V. [26]. Porcelane. 

Mnireaq. in Farthis pocola cocta f ocis. 

NuIIus vetemm melius expressit, quid essent Mnrrea pocnlos 
qiiam noster Propertius, qui dicit esse poeula oocta, non autem 
gemmea, ut Yirgil. Senec. Plinius. Quomodo ciystallus& vitrum 
Yocatur gemma k Martiali et alijs, ita murrina gemmea dicuntur. 
Sed deveris gemmis Plinius scribens inter eas murrina annumerat^ 
scilicet quod ignoraret esse poeula signina cocta apud ainas facta, 
qua^ nos Porcellana vocamus. Quare ridiculi sunt, qui ex Plinio 
gemmea hariolantur. Mirum vero Plinium ignorasse, quod tarn 
perspicue Fropertias dixit videtor autem murra vox Latina pro 
gemma antiquitus usurpari soKta. 

1 

Eleg. V. [22]. P Purple Dye. 

Et qua snb Tyrii concha snperbit aqn&. 

This rich dye hath been lost for many hundreds of yeares, 
and the concha unknowne, till within (about) ten yeares 1672 
since a poor woman by the sea-side in . . . shire, in Wales, 
happened to discover it, and she gott money by making markes 
in Handkerchifes, &c., by it. M' Cole, of Bristow and R.S.S. 
hearing of it tooke a journey to her, and for a reward, got the 
secret of her, and we have some of these conchae in the Bieposi- 
tory at the R. Sociely. The staine will not be washed out. 
Pancirellus, &c., recites, that the Bom. Emperours did write 
their names in edicts and diplomas in purple inke. The colour 
is glorious, and it is deeper or fainter according as it is more or 
lesse tinged. So 8(/8a^09. 






BBMAINS OF GENTILISME. 159 



ElegM. [41, 42]. Image ofi/' Tutelar Saint of a Ship. 

Solre metn patriam, qua nunc te yindice freta 
Imposnit prom pnblica vota tna. 

Scaliger notat in pror& Aiisse tutelam navis. 
Eleg. viL [1-6], Apparitions of Persons deceased. [See p. 10.] 

Snnt aliqnid manes; letmn non omnia finit; 

Lnridaq. evictos effngit nmbra rogos. 
Pynthia namq. meo visa est incnmbere fnlcro 

Mnrmnr ad extrems nnper hnmata yisB, 
Qnnm mihi somnns ab exeqnijs penderet amoris, 

Et quererer lecti frigida regna mei. 



Eleg. vii. [37, 38.] 



At Nomas arcanas tollat yersnta salivas; 
Dncet damnatas ignea testa manns. 

(i) Qnsestionem habe de Lygdamo, ant de Nomade, qnse te amatorio yeneficio 
nnnc deliniyit. ea si arcanas snas removerit saliyas, qnas clam ad incantandnm 
mentem tnam cibo immixtas tno adhibet, et ignea testa nratnr. de sclere yeneficio 
perpetrati confitebitnr. — Tnmeb. 



Eleg. vii. [89-91]. Ghosts. 

Nocte yagas ferimnr; nox clansas liberat nmbras; 

Errat et abjecta Cerbems ipse serft. 
Lnce jnbent leges Leth»a ad stagna reyerti. 



Eleg. xii. [xi. 7] 

Vota moyent snperos: nbi portitor sera recepit. 

Lncianns de Lnctn: Hoc nsq. adeo yalidd ynlgi animos persnasemnt nt 
simnlas familiaris qnispiam mortnns fnerit, imprimis obolnm et In os imponant, 
qnem pro yectnrft sit acceptoms portitor. sic Athenienses. 

When I was a Boy (before y® Civil-warres) I heard 'em tell 
that in y® old time they used to putt a Penny in dead persons 
mouth to give to St. Peter : and I thinke that they did doe so 
m Wales and in the north countrey. 



160 REMAINS OF OENTILISMl. 



[Here begins '< pabt tb hid *' in the MS.] 

Cetera jampridem didici paeriliboB annur 

Non tamen idciioo pneterennda mihL 
Anctor in incerto ert 

Reliquumipoeulo ejecit. In part y^ i^. [See pp. 37 and 179.] 

Homer's Iliad ^ 218. 

— «- 6 9k w&vwxH ^^^ 'AxtXXet^f 

OJvov A^wrff6fievos xa/ia^c^ x^^ ^^ ^^ yaiav, 

LoUs. Part ii*. [See p. 90.] 
Homer in the ziv. lib. of his Odysses : 207. 

'AXX' ijrot rbv K^peQ Ifiav Bavaroio ^pmrai 
Etc 'Atdao dofisQ' Toi Bk (w^ iicuravro 
UaXSi^ vircpOv/Aoi, i^ iiri xXiipovQ kfidkovro. 

[Price of copying MSS.^ 

The price of writing of manuscripts before y® use of printing 
was XXX. shillings p quire (from Fabian Philips O"). 

Singing ofy* Go»pels and Carolls. 

The ancient way of Worshiping the Immortal Gods was by 
Hymnes, e.g. Orpheus, Linus, Homer, &c. Hence was derived 
the singing of the GhospeU. The original Ghospells were writt 
in verses, to be sung : not consisting of certain and the same 
measures of feet : and concerning this, see Dr. Castle's Notes 
on the Polyglotte- Bible. In the University of Oxford the old 
R. Catholiq. custome is yet retained (at least, in most Colleges) 
for one of the Scholars of the House in the middle of Dinner, to 
sing the Ghospel of the Day : I doe remember some Divines, that 
when they read the Chapters, did it with such a cadence, that it 



i 



BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 161 

was rather to be termed singing, than Reading. Our Carolls at 
Christmas are but Hymnes of Joy for that Blessed Tyde. 

The ministres of the Lutheran Church in Germany sing in 
some Churches the words of the Institution of the Holy Sacra- 
ment. Cramer. [W. K.] 

Mr. Edm: Waller sayd to Eliz: Countess of Thanet, that 
poetrie was abused when 'twas turned to any other way, so. 
than hymnes. 

"The Asiatick custome of singing a Carol to Christ about 
Cock-crowing mentioned in Pliny (lib. iv. [x.] ep. 97) in his 
epistle to Trajan the Emperor, in the first age of the church, is 
retained in Wales to this day in our Plygains or Pulgaing as 
we term them." pag. 173, Heart and its Soveraign, by T. J. of 
Oswestry. 

IThe Cross:] 

" Though we look upon the materiall Cross, as a great rarity 
(which at Rome they Idolize, and are beholding to our St. Helena 
for it), and honour that bearing, as the Churches coate of Arms, 
yet our true sense and Religious use thereof, appears in our 
Remembrances and obligations by it, to brotherly love and 
charity, having no other word to express welcome which ought 
to be from the heart, but Croeso^ which is derived from the cross, 
mae chwi croesoy you are welcome in the Cross." The Heart and 
its Sovraign, by T. J. p. 173. 

Ibid. " Though they believe no Purgatory, yet it is usuall 
with them at y® death of their friends to wish the party deceased 
a good Resurrection, Duw a Roiddo Ailgyfodiad da^ God graunt 
him a good (a second) Resurrection, an Ancient practice in the 
Eastern church (Ephanius in Aerio)." 

[Lent CiAstomJ] 

It is the custom for the Boys and Girls in Country Schools in 
several parts of Oxfordshire (as Blechingdon, Weston, Charlton, 
&c.) at their breaking-up in the week before Easter to goe in a 

M 



162 BEMAIKS OF QENTILISUS. 

gang from boose to hoase with little clacks of wood and when 
they come to any door they fall a beating their clacks, and 
singing [the following] song, and expect from every house some 
eggs or a piece of bacon, w*^** they carry baskets to receive, and 
feast upon them at the week's end. 

At first coming to y* door they all strike up, very loud, 

Harings Harings white and red 
Ten a penny Lent's dead 
Rise dame and give a Negg 
Or elae a peice of Baoon 
One for Peter two for Paul 
Three for Jack a Lents all 
Away Lent away 

often repeated. 
As soon as they recieve any largess,. they begin the chorus. 

Here sits a good wife 
Pray Ood save her life 
Set her npon a hod 
And driye her to God. 

But if they loose their expectation, and must goe away empty, 
then w*^ a full cry. 

Here sits a bad wife 
The deyil take her life 
Set her npon a swiyell 
And send her to y« Deyill. 

And, in farther indignation, they commonly cut the latch of 
y® door, or stop the keyhole w*^ dirt, or leave some more nasiy 
token of displeasure.^ [W. K.] 



GentUisme. 

Stat yetns, et densa prsennbilns arbore Incns; 

Adspice; concedes nmnen inesse loco. 
Accipit ara preces, yotiyaq. tbnra Deomm. 

Ara per antiqnas facta sine arte manns. 

Oyid's Amorum, lib. iii. eleg. 12. — [xiii. 7-10.] 



• [See Appendix.] 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 163 

Glories about the Heads of Saints, 

Mr. Mdd Lloyd sayes, that when Dr. Powell preacht, that a 
smoake would issue out of his head, so great agitation of spirit 
he had. Why might such accidents heretofore be a Hint to y® 
glories, w®^ the Painters putt about the heads of the canonized 
Saints? 

Sirens, in Homer and Ovid: 
expresse the verses. 

At Leghorn, and other Ports in Italie, when Shippes arrive, 
the Courtizans runne to the Mariners with their Lutes and 
Ghitarres, playing and singing, w^ their Haire dissheveld and 
Breasts naked, to allure them and gett fine things of them. In 
like manner at Gosprit, neer Portsmouth, where the Seamen 
lye, the towne is full of wanton wenches, and there is never a 
house but hath a virginall in it, and (they say) scarce 3 honest 
women in the Town. 

Strovnng of Salt, 
Theocritus, Idyllium ii. [18, 19] : 

"AX^tra rot irpdrov irvpi ruKtrai, aXK' kwivatrai 
OsffTvXi deiXaia, &c. 

Mola qnidem in igne consomitnr, sed asperge 
Thestyli infelix 

Howling of Dogges, 
Ibid. [33-36] : 

Nwv Qva& rd irirvpa rb d* 'Aprefii j^ rbv kv ^S^ dvcuSfj 
Kiv^vai *PaddfjLav9a i^ hri irep aff^ccKec dXXo 
OeTvXi, ral kvvbq a/iiv avd tttoXiv iypvovra 
*Y,9ebQ kv Tpiodoicri' Tb x^^^X^^^ '^Q ''«X^C "X^** 

Nunc fnrfures sacrificabo. Tu vero Diana etiam ilium qui apud inferos est, 

Khadamanthum movere posses, et siquid alinm firmum est, 

Thestyli, canes nobis per urbem latrant; 

Dea adest in trivijs: yas aeneum quam primum pulsa. 

M 2 



164 KBMAINS OF GKMTIUBMS. 

So— 

Tisftq. canes nlnlaie per nrbem 



AdTenUnte Dei ^Virg. -ffincid.— [tI 267, 268.] 

Itching of ones Right Eie, 
IdjlKum iii. : 

Abrdv; A<n6/uu won rdv wirw 6 ^ AwoKkivOdi. 



Ibid. [29, 30] : 



OOSi t6 ri|Xe^iXov ironfUL^aro t6 Kkardyrifta 
'AXX' avrii^ dtrakH tt&ti irdxs'i i^<iftapdvOfi, 

Telephilon allisnm nnllam edidit sonnm 
Sed frostra moUi in brachio tabefactnm est 



Sieve and Sheeres. 
Ibid. [31] : 

EZire 1^ 'Aypow r AXaOka KoaiuvSfiavTiQ, 
Dixit et AgrsBo yera, cribro yaticinans. 

Sorcerie. 

"What viitue yet sleeps in this terra damnata and aged 
cinders were petty magick to experiment; these crumbling 
reliques and long-fixed particles superannate such expectations. 
Bones, hairs, nails, and teeth of the dead were the tresuries of 
old sorcerers. In vain we revive such practises ; present super- 
stition too visibly perpetuates the folly of our Forefathers, wherein 
unto old observation this Island was so compleat that it might 
have instructed Persia."^ 

I remember at Bristow (when I was a boy) it was a common 
fashion for the woemen, to get a Tooth out of a Sckull in y® ch: 

» S' Th: Brown's Ume-bnriall, p. 42. Britannia hodi^ earn attonitd celebrat 
tantis ceremonijs, nt dedisse Fersis yidere possit. Plin: I: 29. 



>»■■■■■«— 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 165 

yard, w^ they wore as a preservative against the Tooth-ach. 
Under the cathedral-church at Hereford is the greatest Charnel- 
house (i) for bones, that ever I saw in England. In A® 1650 
there lived amongst those bones a poor old woman that, to help 
out her fire, did use to mix the dead men's bones; this was 

thrift and poverty, but cunning alewives y . > the Ashes of 

these bones in their Ale to make it intoxicating. Dr. Goddard 
bought bones of the Sextons, to make his drops with. Some 
make a playster for the Gowte with the earth or mucilage newly 
scraped from the shin-bones. 

m 

Christian forme of BurialL 

" The last valediction of y® Gentiles — ^vale, vale, vale nos 
te ordine quo natura permittet loquemur — thrice uttered by the 
attendants was very solemn, and somwhat answered by the 
Christians, who thought it too little, if they threw not the earth 
thrice upon the enterred body. In strewing their tombs the 
Bomans affected y® Rose; the Greeks, Amaranthus and Myrtle; 
that the Funerall pyre consisted of sweet fuell, Cypress, Firre, 
Larix, Yewe, and trees perpetually verdant, lay silent expres- 
sions of their surviving hopes. Wherein Christians which deck 
their Coffins with Bays have found a more elegant Embleme. 
For that he seeming dead, wiU restore itselfe from the root, 
and its dry and exuccous leaves resume their verdure again." 
Ibid. p. 56. 

Yewe-treea in Church-yards. 

Ibid. "Whether the planting of Yewe-trees in Church-yards 
hold not its originall from ancient Funerall rites or as an Embleme 
of Resurrection from its perpetuall verdure may also admit con- 
jecture." 

p. 60. " That they buried a piece of money with thom as a 
Fee of the Elysian Ferry-man was a practise full of folly." 

p. 61. " Why the Funerall suppers consisted of Egges, Beans, 
Smallage, and Lettuce, since the dead are made to eat Asphodels 



166 REMAINS OF GEKTILISME. 

about the Elyzian meadows? Whj, since there is no Sacrifice 
acceptable, nor any propitiation for the Covenant of y* grave, 
men set up the Deity of Morta, and fruitlessly adored Divinities 
without eares? It cannot escape some doubt" 



MtuAck at FuneralU. 

p. 57. " They made use of Musick to excite or quiet the 
afiections of their friends, according to different harmonies. 
But the secret and symbolical hint was the harmonical nature 
of the soul, which delivered from the body, went again to enjoy 
the primitive harmony of heaven, from whence it first descended ; 
which, according to its progress traced by antiquity, came downe 
by Cancer and ascended by Capricomus." 

The Diurnal gave us the description of the pompous fiineral 

of Queen Christina's mother, in Sweedland, (A® ), where, 

among other pieces of State, there was funeral, Musiq. contrived 
with passionate sad notes. 

In Germany in Zerbst in Anhalt at Grentlemen's ftineralls 
is most alwayes a very good Funeral Musique. Cramer. This 
the reason of ringing out the Bells in most Churches as soon as 
ever the body is in-laid. W. K. 



Lyeing w** y head Westwards in y Grave. 

p. 47. ''Though we decline y® Religious consideration, 

yet in cemiteriall and narrowe burying places, to avoid con- 
fusion and cross position, a certain posture were to be admitted, 
which even Pagan civility observed, the Persians lay north and 
the south, Megareans and Phoeniceans placed their heads to the 
East, the Atheneans, some think, towai'ds the West, which 
Christians still retain." 

At Midleton- Stony in y« county of Oxford most of the 
antient graves in the church-yard either by ignorance or by 
the spirit of opposition, lie north and south, as was observed to 
me by the late Rev. Mr. Henry Gregory. W. K. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISMK. 167 

Corps carried vnth the feet foremost 

p. 58. " That they carried them out of the world with their 
feet forward, not inconsonant to reason : As contrary unto the 
native posture of man, and his production first into it. And 
also agreeable unto their opinions, while they bid adieu unto 
the world not to look again upon it, whereas the Mahometans, 
who think to return to a delightful! life again, are carried forth 
with their heads forward and looking toward their houses/' 

p. 62. " The ghosts are afraid of swords in Homer, yet 
Sybilla tells -Sneas in Virgil, the thin habits of spirits was 
beyond the force of weapons." 

But Michael Psellas positively affirmes, that Spirits are capable 
of being hurt ; and so say other writers of magick ; and one 
advised Mr. Mompesson, of Tydworth, to shoot suddenly and at 
randome in the aire. 

Cymbalh. 

" We read in Clemens Alexandrinus ^ that the Arabians made 
use of cymbals in their wars instead of other military musick ; 
and PolyaBUus in his Stratagems affirmith that Bacchus gave 
the signall of Battle unto his numerous Army not with Trumpets 
but with Tympans and Cymbals." 

From tympana came our tabors and l^^^^l • Mdm, 

I i^rummes ) 

the Norwegian or Lapland drumme w®^ Mr. J. Heysig gave to 
y® musaeum of the Boyal Societie. Bacchus made extraordinary 
Conquests in y® East, but Time & Oblivion hath tum'd them 
into fables. — See Herodotus de hijs. 

House leek set on houses, 

" Nature hath somwhat after a Quincuncial manner ordered 
the bush in Jupiters beard or House-leek ; w®^ old superstition 
set on the tops of houses, as a defensative against lightening and 
thunder."^ — Cyrus Garden p. 126. 

> Miscellanies, p. 122. 

s [The frequent planting of this on the roofs of houses and ontbnildings is 
probably dne to a belief in its preservative qualities. De Gubematis enumerates 
it among the plants which are " Censees proteger contre le tonnerre " (Mythologie 
des Plantes, i. 293). Ed.] 



V 



168 BEMAIKS OF OENTILISMB. 



VioKn. 

It appears by Basse-relieves, &c., 
ApoOc^i ffarpe. ^^^ ^f Antdquily, that ApoHo's Harpe 

(of this Fashion) had but fower strings : 

now fewer strings can have but fower 

Notes ; wherefore, sayes S' Christopher 

[Here is a figure.] Wren, that the Plectrum was not the 

Instrument to strike the strings with, 

as we doe strike the strings of a Citteme 

with a Quill ; but they used the Plectrum 

The Plectrum was a piece to stoppe w^ instead of Fretts, and so 

^i! ^^T^r.^''^^'^'"'}^^. shortened the string to y« note they had 

they stopt the string, instead . ^ oi i i xt_ xi 

of a fret, and then toucht r ^^^asion for. So at length they came 
string with their Finger. to necks and fretts : which are much 

better : and from hence is descended our 
Violin Ac. But it was the Bow-string, that was the first Hint 
for String-Instruments of Musick. 

At tn matemo donasti nomine mensem, 

Inventor cnrys, fnribns apte, fidis. 
Nee pietas hsec prima toa est; septena pntaris, 

Fleiadnm nnmermn, fila dedisse lyrsB. 

Ovid. Fastorum, lib. v.— [103-106.] 

" Lyra, quasi Xur/^a, quod Apollini a Mercuric (qui cam primus 
creditur invenisse), pro boum compensatione fiiit data, cum 
ante Chelys diceretur." — Calepin's Diet. 

Vide Ovid. Metamorph. lib. ii. fab. 11. 

Favit et Admeti tanros formosns Apollo. Tibnllns.— [Lib. ii. 3.] 

Vide Euripides Alcest de hoc. 

Qui poeticam Astrologiam scripserunt, volunt banc lyram esse 
k Mercuric primum inventam in Cyllene a ArcadiaBmonte, et 
ab eo Apollini donatum. Apollinem autem inventa cithara, 
Orpheo lyram concessisse: mortuo autem Orpheo, a Musis in 
coelo fuisse collocatam. — Calepin's Diet. 

Fertar in [et] abdncta Briseide [lyrneside] tristis Achilles, 
uEmonia curas attenuasse lyra. — Ovid. [Trist.] lib. 4, eleg. i. [15, 16.] 






REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 169 

Te canam magni Jovis et Deomxn 
Nnntium, cnryssq. lyrse parentem. 

Horat. 1 Cann. ode 16 [lib. i. ode x. 6, 6J. 

Cithara^ Kiddpa^ a harpe. Instrumentum musicum. Hanc 
Hieronymus scribit effici in modum A literae cum chordis vi- 
ginti quatuor, et per digitis varijs vocibus, tinnulisq. in diversis 
modis concitari. Plinius, lib. vii. cap. 56. A. Y® first rudiment 
of the harpe. — Idem. [t. e. Calepin's Diet.] 

Testudo. Musicum instrumentum vivae testudinis figurae non 
admodum dissimile, quod et GrsBci nomine xiXuo appellant 
(Angl. lute). Hujus inventionem Mercuric assignat Hyginus, 
qui quum aliquando in testudinem incidisset, cujus varo longa 
vetustate erat esesa solis relictis nervis, qui digitis percussi non 
inamoenum edebant sonum, ex illius similitudine lyram excogi- 
tavit ; unde et testudinis illi nomen mansisse quidam existimant. 
-^Idem. 

O decns Phoebi, & dapibns snpremi 
Grata testado Jovis, 6 laboram 
Dnlce lenimen, mihi cnmq. salve 
Bite Yocanti. 
Horat. lib. i. Carm. [ode xxxii. 13-16.] 

Ipse, caya solaas UBgrnm testndine eBmorem. — Yirg. Georg. 4 [464]. 

Cicero 2 de Nat. Deormn. Qnocirca et in Mibns testndine resonator. 

Mdm. In Gemmae et Sculpturae antiquae depictae ab Leonardo 
Augustine, 4*®, 1685, is the figure of Lira di Apollo, with six 
strings, between two Dolfins under a Bull. 

Harpers. 

" The Musitians of those times lived in reputation, as you 
shall perceive by the Bardes of Wales and Lreland." — Dr. Rob. 
Record's Epistle dedicatorie of his Arithmetik to King Edward 
vj. When I was a Boy every Gentleman almost kept a Harper 
in his house ; and some of them could versifie. 



170 REMAINS OF GENTILI8ME. 

Ammiantts Marcellinus^ lib. xv. cap. ix, 

" Bardi quidem fortia virorum illustrium facta heroicis com- 
posita versibus com dolcibas lyras modulis cantitarnnt." 



Homer says somewhere in his Odjsses, that at bed-time they 
offered loine to Mercury. — [See p. 147.] 

Goodman, [See p. 181.] 

" Yeomen are not called masters, for that pertaineth to gentle- 
men only. But to their simames men adde Goodman^ as if the 
sirname be Luter, Finch, Brown, they are called Groodman 
Luter, Goodman Finch, Goodman Brown, amongst their neigh- 
bours I meane not in matters of importance or in law. Bonus 
vir non tantum Judex set et quiuis alius vir Justus, sequus, 
Justus, innocens et prudens consideratuxq. paterfamilias acci- 
piendus, 1. iii. §"— S'^ Th. Smyth's 0. W. chap. 23. /. de 
Beceptis, qui arbitrium vere petunt ut Sententiam dicant. 

Horat. lib. I. epist. [xyi. 40, 41.] 



Vir bonus est qnis? 



Qni coxunilta patnun, qni leges jnraq. servat, &c. 

Quilibet itaq. minime astutus & fallax, sed integrse vitas & 
existimationis idoneusq. & diligens paterfamil. vir bonus appel- 
latur, pro eodemq. virum bonum & bonum patremfamil. nostri 
auctores dicunt. — L. ix. § . 

Lexicon Juridicam Jo. Calvini. But a Goodman in the 
acceptation of the London-Scriveners is a wealthy fore-handed 
man that is good security. 

Yeoule, See one of y® former parts. [See p. 5,] 

In the Newes-letter was an advertisement of Decemb. 16*^, 
from Ireland, that the Enniskelling-men designe to present his 



KEMAmS OF GENTILISME. 171 

grace y« D. of Schonberg with 1,000 head of Black-cattle against 
Yfile. 

[_Boy'Bi8hop.'] 

Under the arch, between two pillars on the north side of y® 
nave of y® cathedrall church of Sarum, is a little monument 
in Purbec marble of an Episcopus Puerorum, who died, in his 
honour.^ Mr. Lancelot Morehouse presented to Seth, L^ 
of Sarum an old Sermon, that was preached at St. Panic's, Lon- 
don, upon that occasions. So I believe, that there were Episcopi 
puerorum in every Cathedrall church of England ; and the like 
in Abbies and Priories, from whence come of so common names 
as Bishop, Abbot, Prior, as King from King of 'the Beane. 
What dignity happened to fall during the Choristers Episcopat 
(which I think lasted all the twelve-dayes) was in his 

{donationi 
guift. J 

The tradition of y® Choristers, and those that show the Church 

is, y* this Childe-bishop being melancholy, the Children of y® 

Choire did tickle him to make him merry, but they did so overdoe 

it that they tickled him to death : and dyeing in his office and 

Honour, here was this little monument made for him, w*^ the 

episcopal ornaments, e. ^., niitre, crosse, and cope. 



TTie Qy>intin. 

Riding at y® Quintin (in French Quintaine) at Weddings was 
used by the ordinary sort (but not very common) till the break- 
ing-out of the Civil-warres. When I learned to reade I sawe 
one at a Wedding of one of y® Farmers [?] at Kington-St 
Michael ; it is performed at a crosse way, and it was there by 
the pound, and 'twas a pretty rustique sport. See the Masque 

of in Ben: Johnson, where there is a j ^^f ^ f f 

description of this custome. 

1 Mr Gregories Miscellanies, where he speakes of this monnment. 



1 72 REMAINS OF OEITTILISME. 

[There is a figure here to which the following desoriptioii 
refers.] 

6 is a Roller (for come) pitched on end in some crosse way, or 
convenient place by which the Bride is broaght home. 

a, a leather Satchell filled w^ Sand. 

Cj at this end, the young fellowes that accompany the Bride, 
doe give a lusty bang with their truncheons, which they have 
for this purpose, and if they are not cunning at it and nimble, 
the Sand-bag takes 'em in y® powle, and makes them ready to 
fall from their horses, c, c, is a piece of wood about an ell long 
that tumes on the pinne of the Bowler, e. When they make 
their stroke they ride a full career. It seemes to be a remainder 
of the Roman Palus. v. Juvenal, satyr vi. v. [247-249.] 

■ ant quia non vidit ynlnera pali,' 



Qnem cavat assidniB sndibns, scatoq. lacessit, 
Atq. omnes implet nnmeros? ' 



Lar. 

The. Irish doe keep some of the last yeares Wheat or Barley, 
to hang up in their Houses, as a Lar. See in Blaen's Atlas 
concerning this. 

Because some used to hang these idols in their chimneys, 
Lar is used for a chimney, pro foco, pro dome, et pro igne. — 
Holyoke's Diet. 



Staffs and Sceptres. 

"Rods and StaflBj were the badges, signes, and cognizances of 
Princes, and were a kind of Sceptre in their hands, denoting their 
Supereminencies. The Staff of Divinity is ordinarily described 
in tiie hands of Gods and Goddesses in old draughts. Trojan and 

* Ad qnem in terra defixii foeminse exercent tanqnk tyrones, nt simnlata 
pngna, feriendi, insiliendi, recedendi vert disciplinam ediscant. Yegetins. 
[lib. ii.] 

> Sc. motnnm et excercitationinm militarinm. 



— ^ 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 173 

Grecian princes were not without the like, whereof the shoulders 
of Thersites felt from the hands of Ulysses. Achilles, in Homer, 
as by a desperate oath, sweares by his wooden Sceptre which 
should never bud nor bear leaves again; which, seeming the 
greatest impossibility to him, advanceth the Miracle of Aaron's 
rod. And if it could be well made out that Homer had seen the 
Bookes of Moses, in that expression of Achilles he might allude 
unto this Miracle." ^ 



Welsh Hubbubs. 

The Gaules had the very same custome in J. Caesar's time, as 
is to be seen in lib. vii. of his Commentaries. 



Marriages. 

^^ I thinke, amongst the old Bomans, these marriages which 
were made per coemptionem in manum, and per ses and libram, 
made the wife in manu & potestate viri, whereof also we. had in 
our old law and ceremony of marriage a certain memorie as a 
view and vestigium: For the woman at the Church-door was 
given of the Father, or some other of the next of kinne, into the 
hands of the husband, and he layd downe gold and silver for 
her upon the booke as though he did buy her ; the Priest was 
belike instead of Lipercus." ^ 



Keepers offered [offerings'] to St. Luke. 

At Stoke Verdon in y* parish of Broad Chalke, Wilts, was a 
Chapell in the chapel close by the Farme-house dedicated to 
St. Luke, who is y® Patron or, Tutelar Saint of y^ Home-beastes, 
and those that have to doe with them. Wherfore, the Keepers 

^ S*^ Tho* Brown's Miscellanys, pag. 31. 

' S' Tho: Smyth's Comon Wealth of England, p. 240. 



174 REHAINS OF GSNTILISMS. 

and Forresters of y* New Forest came hither yeare at St. Lukes- 

tyde, \ .., I" their offerings to St. Luke, that they might be 

fortunate in their Game, their Deer, & their cattle. In the 
like manner the Foresters, &c. of Kings Wood, in com. Glor. 
did come to make their offerings at TurviUs Acton, in Glocester- 
shire ; the Chapell, w*^^ is but little, but well built, stands in the 
middle of y^ street: but was dedicated, they say, to Saint 
Margaret 



En cette grappe sonneraigne, 
Digne present de I'immortel, 
Ponr en f aire k la Magdelaine/ 
Une deTotieuse estraine 
An pins bean lien dn grand Antel.* 



Deatras. 



[Utqne] nt pignns fidei [fide] dextras ntrasq. [ntrinsqne] poposcit, 

Inter seq. datas jnnxit. Orid, Metamorph. lib. vi. De Philomela, 

[606-7.] 

MsLcidad longo jnyenes post tempora tIsu, 
Agnoyere tamen Cephalnm (Legatnm) dextrasq. dedere. 

Oyid. Metam. Ub. yii.— [494-5.] 

At Priorie St. Mary (a nunnery), in y® parish of Kingston 
St. Michael, have been formerly, and also lately, found upon 
digging in y® garden, in consecrated ground, severall coffins of 
freestone ; they have all a hole, or two in the bottom, bored w** 

an augur. There was found, about 1640, a 
round stone, like a little grindstone, of about 
[Fignre.] two feet diameter, with two hands holding a 
heart only on one side, as in the margent. To 
what use it served I could never learne ; it was 
found at the foot of a Grave in which there was 
found a Chalice. 



* Pomona. 

* Seignenr Pibrac, Plaisirs du Gentilhome Champestre. 



BEMAINS OF OENTILISME. 175 

This putts me in mind of some passages in Tacitus : sc. Hist, 
lib. i. : Miserat Civitas Lingonum, vetere institute dona Legioni- 
bus, dextras hospitij insigne. Hist, lib.* ii. : Centurionemq, 
Sisennam dextras concorcliae insignia Syriaci exercitus nomine 
ad prestorianos ferentem, varijs artibus aggressus est. — See T. 
Lipsij, notas. 

Homer's Iliads, A, p. 146 [v. 159] : 

dextrsB jnnctaB fidebamus. 



0. PLINIJ SBCUNDI. HIST. NATURAL. 

(cum notia variis). 

Such or such a flower or plant happened to grow upon such a 
ones grave (as y« great bore-thistle on good-wife Jacquez) gave 
the occasion of imagining that they were turned into that flower 
or plant, as Ajax into a hyacinth, &c. 



Ye modem manner of Merchants AccomptSj sc. Debtor and 

Creditor. 

Huic (Fortunae) omnia expensa, huic omnia feruntur accepta, 
& in tota ratione mortalium, sola utramq. paginam facit. c. 7. 



Lotts,^ 
Adeoq. obnoxiae sumus Sorti, ut sors ipsa pro Deo sit. 

Putting on the right Shoe first, 

Libro secundo, cap. 7. Divus Augustus laevum prodidit sibi 
calceum prsepostere inductum, quo die seditione militare prope 
afflictus est. 

» [See p. 90, &c.] 



176 BSMAIN8 OF OSlTriLISMB. 

Aatroloffie — Ascendent 

Pars alia hano (Fortonam) pellit, astroq. suo eventas assignat, 
& Dascendi legibus. cap. 7, p. 11. 

AngeUe with Winge. 
AligeroB deos. — Ibid* 

Curricles. 

Lib. vii. cap. 56. In Monmouthshire^ &c. in Wales; and 
also in the Biver Seveme, even as far as Worcester, these kind 
of Boates (w^^ thej call cnrrides) are used to this day. 

Conjuration. 

Lib. ii. cap. 53. Extat Annalium memoria, sacris quibusdam 
et precationibus vel cogi fidmina, vel impetrari. 

See the travells of Seign' de la Vallcy dedicated to Pope .... 
concerning Mount Carmely where he gives an account, that after 
the prayers there performed by y® Passengers in the caravans, 
doe ensue Baines. Also he there gives an account, y* Mount 
Sinai is a vulcano, & (I thinke he says likewise) Mount Horeb. 

Mdm. In y* Life of Vavasour Powel is a very observable 

remarke of y® power of Prayer, sc. Anno there was an 

extraordinary Drowth, the Congregation met & joyned in fer- 
vent prayer ; and though a cloud had not been seen for several! 
weekes, while they were in their humiliation, God sent them a 
mighty refreshing Showre of Baine. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 177 



Sneezing, 



Lib. ii. cap. 40. Origem, appellat -ffigyptus feram, quam 
in exortu Caniculae et contra stare, et contueri [tradit], ac velut 
adorare, cim stemuerit. (An respexit ad morem vetermn, quo 
stemuentes non tantum ab his qai aderant, salutabantur; sed 
etiam ipsi sibi qui stemuebant, Deum propitium precabantur, et 
adorabant. Salmas, 474.) 

Sneezing and stumbling with the foot are counted matters of 
presage: in augurijs stemutamenta, et offensiones pedum, 
cap. 5. 



Si^ of y \^y^'^'']' 

*/ / c^ \(jlreenman) 



Lib. V. [cap. i.] Herculis ara apud hortos Hesperidum. ♦ 
Lib. vi. cap. 22. Taprobrane insula (now thought to be Sumatra) 
ibi coli Herculem. 

Witches. 

Lib. vii. cap. 2. Visu effascinunt, qui duplices habent pupillas 
eosdem prseterea non posse mergi, ne veste quidem degra- 



vatos. This is observed by the Scotts to this day. 

Fairies or Apparitions, 

[lb.] Li AfricsB solitudinibus hominum species obviae fiunt, 
momentoq. evaibescunt. 

Religiotis Tonsures. 

Lib. viii., [cap. 46.] — et donee invenerint (Apim) moerent, 
derasis etiam capitibus. 

Eat Gnawing. 

[Lib. viii.1 cap. 57. arrosis Carboni Imp. apud Clusium 

fascijs, quibus in calceatu utebatur, exitium. 

N 



178 REMAINS OF OBKTILISME. 

Cock-fighting. 

Lib X. cap. 25. Pergami omnibus omnis spectaculam gaUomm 
public^ editor, sea gladiatoram. (Hi no sumptam Alectoroma- 
chiaB exemplum in Scholis nostris circa Hilarin. Pintian?). 

Ghirlands used at Maydes funeralls. [See p. 109.] 

[Lib. X.] cap. 43. ^— prsecedente tibicines et coronis omnium 
generum. 

Iron layd on BarrelUy to prevent Sowring of the Beer by Thunder j 

in Hereff. Sfc, 

[cap. 54.] Bemedium contra tonitum; davus ferrous sub 
stramine ovorum positus, aut terra ex aratro. 

Setting of Eggs under tf Hen. 

[lb.] Subiici impari numero debent. Licubanda subiici 
(goose-egges) utilissimum ix. et xi. 

Rightrhand. 

Morientibus oculis aperire dextra osculis aversa appetitur^ in 
fide porrigitur [lib. xi. 45]. 

Trees in Churchyards. 

Lib. xii. cap. 1. Haec fuere numinum templa, priscoq. ritn 
simplicia rura etiam nunc Deo prsecellentem arborem dicant. 
(Hoc etiam nostro sseculo fit. Procerissimas arbores in aadium 
sacrorum vestibulis, et sepulchretis vicinis alunt. Dalecamp.) 

Elder sticky vf^ our Wilts^ 8cc. butchers ^ grasiers ^c. doe carrie 
in their pockets to preserve them, from galling, [See p. 184.] 

Lib. XV. cap. 29. Virgae (Myrti) gestatae manu viatori pro- 
sunt in loDgo itinere pediti. Duae myrti sacrae ante delubra 
Quirini. 



i' < I ' nm ■ '>M^' w '■■ ' 



REMAU^S OF QENTILISME. 179 



Pitchty or rosind^ Jacks, or Cannes. 

Lib. xiv. cap. 23 [20]. arbitrant crudo flore resins 

excitari lenitatem. 



Casting y*drinke Uftiny 'Cup^on theground. [See pp. 37, 160.] 

[Lib. xiv.] cap. 22. Torquatus Tricongius nihilque ad eliden- 

dum in pavimentis sonum ex vino reliquisse. eum morem 

indicat Horatius his versibus. 

" et mero 
Tanget payimentmn snperbo." [Carm. II. xiy. 26, 27.] 

This custome some in Germany will also observe. 

Ah. 

« 

[Lib. xiv.] Cap. 22. " Est et Occidentis populis sua ebrietas, 
fruge madidd : pluribus modis per Grallias, Hispaniasq^, nomini- 

bus alijs, sed ratione eadem -ffigyptus quoq^ e fruge sibi 

potus similes excogitavit." Aristot lib. de Temulentia scribit, 
zytho ebrios, in dorsum supines cadere, ac reclinari, vino 
madidos in faciem pronos ferri. 

Crackling of \f Bayleafe in y* fire. 

Lib. XV. cap. 30. " Laurus quidem, manifesto abdicat ignes 
crepitu, & quadam detestatione. (Crepitum sonorum portendere 
faelicia existimatum k Theocrito, Lucretio, Porphyrio: contra 
vero, laurum injectam igni et tacitam, tristia.") 

'' Lanms nbi bona signa dedit, gandete, colosi." Tiballns [lib. II. eleg. y. 83.] 
<* Et tacet extincto lanms adnata foco." Fropertins [lib. II. eleg. yiii. 36.] 

Ewgh Trees in Churchyards. 

Lib. xvi. cap. 10. " Picea feralis arbor, et funebri indicio 
ad fores posita, ac regis virens.^* 

The Northerns call it the Kirk-garth, sc, a garth for taking 
Fish. 

n2 



180 R1BMAIN8 or GENTILUMB. 



Spontaneous falling of Trees near the dwellvng'-house. 

[Lib. xvL] cap. 32. " Est in exemplis, et sine tempestate, 
ullave alia causa quam prodigij, ceeidisse inultas (arborcs).*' 
Colamella, or Varro, q^ saieth, that when the top of a Firre neer 
the hoose is blowne downe towards the dwelling-house, the 
master will die that yeare. 

Candles burning by dead corps. 

[Lib. xvi.] cap. 37. ^^ Scirpi . • . , candelsB luminibus, & fane- 
ribus serviant." [Nota. Quod adnotavit interpres Theocriti, 
<<j{ixta mortui cadaver, quamdiu supra terrain esset, ignem 
accensum conservabant, qu& in re candelis his utebantur." 
Dalecamp]. 

Cutting Haire at the new of the Moone. 

[Lib. xvi.] cap. 39. ^^ Tiberius idem & in capillo tondendo 
servavit interlunia.'^ 

Gfrajfflng. 

Lib. xvii. cap. 14. ^^ Id etiam religionis servant, ut luna ores 
cente, ut calamus utr&c]^ deprimatur manu." 

Charmes and Inchantments* 

[Lib. xvii.] cap. 28. " Quippe cum averti carmine grandines 
credant pleriq^ ; cujus verba inserere non equidem serio ausim, 
quanquam k Catone prodita, contra luxata membra, jungenda 
harundinum fissurae." 

Mdm. Little children have a custome, when it raines to sing, 
or charme away the Baine ; thus they all joine in a Chorus, and 
sing thus, viz. : 

<< Bainey rame, goe away, 
Come againe a Saterday." 

I have a conceit, that this childish custome is of Great antiquity; 
y* it is derived from y« Gentiles. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 181 

InvisibUity, 

B^ on Midsummer-night at xii., Astrologically, when all the 
Planets be above the earth, a Serpent, and kill him and skinne 
him: and dry it in the shade, and bring it to a powder. Hold it 
in your right hand and you will be invisible. This 1^ is in 
Johannes de Florentia, a Rosy-crucian, a booke in 8°* in High 
Dutch. ly Ridgeley hath it. 

Nouvellea. 

Tinning of brass skillets, &c , began about 1660 ; but it was 
used by the Romans in Plinys time, who tells how 'twas done : 
sc, w*^ sal Armeniac. 

Unluchie creatures tf happen to crosse the way. 

Lib. xviii. cap. 1. " Ut inauspicataru animantium via [vice] 
obvij quoq^ vetent agere aut prodesse vitse." 

Bride-cakes. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 3. " Et in sacris nihil religiosius confarrea- 
tionis vinculo erat : novaeq^ nuptsB farreum prasferebant." (Festo 
et Boethio matrimonia contrahebantur farreo libo adhibito. Itsiq^ 
farreum hie libum plures ejusmodi exponunt, servetur mos ille 
p'ferendi libum ante prodeuntes sponsas etiam nunc apud rusticos 
Lugdunenses. Dalecampius.) 

Goodman, an Addition. [See p. 170.] 

Ibid. "Agrummale colore, censoriumprobmmjudicabatur.' 
Atq^ (ut refert Cato) quem virum bonum colonum dixissent, 
amplissime laudasse existimabant. 

Old Coynesy sc. tJie old British. 
Ibid. Servius rex, ovium boumq^ effigie primus aes signavit. 



182 BEICAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Yest or Barm. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 7. ^^ GallisB & Hispanisd firumento in potom 
resoluto, quibas diximus generibos, spuma ita concreta p fer- 
mento utantur. Qua de caasa levior illis, quam cdBteris, paniis 
est." 

PancakeSy 4* FriUerSj 8f Fourmeniie. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 8. ^* Palte autem, non pane, vixisse longo 
tempore Bomanos manifestom, qnoniam inde & pidmentaria 

hodiec]^ dicuntor. Et hodie sacra prisca, atc]^ nataliom, 

pnlte fritilla conficiuntur.'' 

Baking. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 1 1 . Pistores non fuenmt ad Persicum \m^ 
bellum, annis ab Urbe condita dlxxx. The Tartars & Sarmatians 
used a kind of Batter baked on a hearth ('tis somewhere here- 
about). So in Herefordshire & Wales (when I was a boy), poor 
beggarly people, did doe the like on a tilestone. I have seen 
them doe it. 

The Scotts, or Highlanders, make their Oaten-cakes after this 
old way. (Polenta is barley-flour dried at y« fire and fried afker 
it hath lien soaking in water. Puis, 'tis, foem : Frumeniy, or 
such kind of meale. Pulmentum, Gruell, Pottage, q^ ex pulte 
fiebat. 

At my father's hous in Kent on every Sunday morning we 
used to breakfast on a pudding cake, a flat thin cake (made of 
the same compost w*^ the pudding to be boild for dinner) laid 
upon paper and tested on the gridiron. W. K. 

Beanea. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 12. Li Faba peculiaris religio. "Namque 
fabam utique e frugibus referre mos est auspicij f»iusa, quae ideo 
referiva appellatur. Et auctionibus adhibere eam lucrosum 
putant." (In Lemuribus, qusBmaio p trinoctium fiebant, fabam 
nigram lotis manibus pedibusq^ nudis, p ora versantes, sere tin- 
niente. Lemures dome se ejicere clamantes, et ut abirent novies 
clamantes, expiari sic Manes arbitrati. Dalecamp.) Quin et prisco 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 183 

ritu Fabacia^ suae religionis Diis in sacro est, prsBvalens pul- 
mentari cibo, & hebetare sensus existimata, insomnia quoq^ 
facere. Ob haec Pythagorica sententia damnata : ut alij tradidere, 
quoniam mortuoru animi sint in ea. Qua de causa parentando 
ntiq^ assumitur. 

Mdm. The old custome (yet continued) of putting a Beane 
into y® Cake at Twelfe-night ; and also a Pea; sc, the Beane 
for the King (of y® beane) and the pea for the Queen. 

TumipB. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 13. " Serere nudum volunt, precantem sibi 
et vicinis serere se." 

Toade. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 17. Multi ad milij remedia, rubetam noctu 
arvo circumferri jubent, priusq sarriatur, defodiq^ in medio 
inclusa vas: fictili ita nee passerem, nee vermes nocere; sed 
eruenda priusq metatur, alioqui amorii fieri." I have heard 
that this is used by some in England, e» g, in Somersetshire 
near Bridgewater. S^. Mr. Paschall. 

a Luchf Hand. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 24. " Fit quoq^ quonmdam occulta ratione, 
quod sors genialis atq^ foecunda est." Sc. in sowing of Corne 
or other seeds. 

Of putting an odd number of Eggea under a Henne. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 26. Li eum diem (bruma) ternadena subji- 
cito (ova) SBstate, totft hieme pauciora, non tamen infra novena." 

« 

Prognostick of Winter Weather. 

Ibid. " Democritus talem fiituram hiemem arbitratur," qualis 
fuerit brumsB dies, et circa cam temi : [item] solstitio aestatem. 

[Lib. xviii.] cap. 29. Excellent Prognostiques for fertility 
& 6 contra. 

' Fabacia, a beane cake. 



184 REHAINB OF QSNTILISME. 

Ibidem. '* Arcliibias ad Antiocham Sjiisd Hegem scripsit: 
* Si fictili novo obmatur rabeta rana in medift segete, non esse 
noxias tempestates.' " I have known this used in Somersetshire. 

TopreMTve Come m a Gamer. 

[Lib. xviii. cap. 30]. '^ Sunt qui mbeta rana in limine horrei 
pede ^ longioribus sospensa, invehere jubeanf Used by some 
in the west. 

Hodmendods in ffardena (u) likenesse of men to scare birds. 

Lib. xix. cap. 4. Li re medio saiyrica signa [contra inviden- 
tium effascinationes]. 

Horse-heads on ^ hedges about Chalice^ ^c. but that is to 

fright Deer. 

[Lib. xix.] cap. 10. ^^ Nee emcas, si palo imponantur in hortis 
ossa capitis ex equino genere foeminae duntaxat." 

Lib. XX. cap. 5. ^^ Inula k jejunis commandueata, [denies 
confirmat] , si ut eruta est, terram non continuat [attingat]." 

Hanging up Squills. 

[Lib. XX.] cap. 9. " Pythagoras scillam in limine quoque 

janudB suspensam maloru medicamentorii introitum pellere 
tradit." 

e, g. Our Graziers^ Sfc. wearing an Elderstick. [See p. 178.] 

[Lib. 20.] cap. 14. ^* Intertrigines, (sc, menta,) qUoq. si 
teneator tantum prohibei" 

9^. for y* Spleens. 

Lib. XX. cap. 14. Aiunt &, lieni mederi eam ("mentam) ita ne 
vellatur ; si is qui mordeat, dicat se lieni mederi, per dies ix. 

Strowing of Flowers at FuneraUs. 

Lib. xxi. cap. 3. " funus elocavit, quaq^ praeferebatur, flores e 
prospoctu omni sparsit." 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 185 

Dressing of Images v^ flowers 8f festoons. 

Ibid. " Et jam tunc coronaB Deoru honos erant, & Larium 
publicoru privatoruq^ ac sepulohoru k Manium." 

Against Charmes and Sorceries. 

[Lib. xxi.] cap. 17. "Traditur et ante portas villarum (As- 
phodelum) satom, remedio esse contra veneficiorom noxam.'' 



[Lib. XXI.] 0. 20. Xyiis "praBcipitur, ut sinistra manu (lectn) 
ad hos usus eroatur, colligentesc]^ dicant, cnjas hominis utique 
causa eximant. Scelus herbarioru aperitur in hac mentione. 
Partem ejus servant, et quarundam aliaru herbarum, sicut 
plantaginis: & si parum mercedis tulisse se arbitrantur, rursusc]^ 
opus quaerunt, partem cam quam servavSre, eodem loco infodiunt : 
credo, ut vitia, quae sanaverint, faciant rebellare." 

Herbs. 

[Lib. xxi.] cap. 21. Abrotonum efficacissimam esse herbam 
contra omnia veneficia, quibus coitus inhibeatur. 

Agues. 

[Lib. xxi.] cap. 23. Magi Anemonam quam primum aspiciatur 
eo anno tolli jubentes : diciq^ colligi eam tertianis & quartanis 
remedio. Postea alligari in panno roseo, & in umbra asservari, 
opus sit adalligari. 

The like. 

[Lib. xxi.] c. 30. Parthenium " Magi contra tertianas sinistra 
manu evelli eam jubent, diciq^ cujus causa vellatur, nee respicere. 
Dein ejus folium segri linguaB subjicere, ut mox in cyatho aquae 
devoratur." 



186 REHAINS OF GENTIUSIOL 



Livery et Seisin. 

Lib. xxii. cap. 4, ^^ Sammum apud antiques signrun victoriae 
erat, herbam porrigere victos, hoc est, terra & altrice ipsa hamoy 
& humatione [etiam] oedere : quern morem etiam nunc durare 
apud Q^rmanos soio." 

Ague^ ut ante* 

[Lib. xxii.] cap. 14. Lamium. Item, cap. 20, de anchusa. 
Item, cap. 21, *' Seminis (Trioocci) grana quatuor [pota], quar- 
tanis pdesse dicuntur, tria vero tertianis : vel si ipsa herba tor 
circumlata subjiciatur capiti. " Item, ibid." Magi heliotropium 
(Tumesol) quartanis quater, in tertianis ter alligari jubent ab 
ipso aegro, precariq^ eum, soluturum se nodes liberatum, et ita 
facere non exempta herba. 

To cure a Felon l^Whitknff]* 

Lib. xxii. cap. 25. ** Novem granis (hordei) si ftirunculum 
quis circumducat, singulis ter, manu sinistra, et omniam ignem 
abijciat, confestim sanari aiunt.'' 

Warts. 

Ibid. ** Verrucaru in omni genere prima luna singulis granis 
singulas tangunt, eaq^ grana in linteolo deligata post se abij- 
ciunt, ita fiigari vitium arbitrantes." 

F- Wild Vine. 

Lib. xxiii. cap. 1. Utuntur ek (Labrusca) pro amuleto. 
Ibid. " Aiunt si quis villam ea (black Briony) cinxerit fagere 
accipitres, tutasq^ fieri yillaticas alites." 

Z[%]'« EviU. 9r. 

[Lib. xxiii.] cap. 6. " Radix (Cotoneorii), circumscripta terra 
manu sinistra capitur, ita ut qui faciet, dicat quae capiat, & cujus 
causa ; sic adalligata strumas medetur." 



1 



BEMAINS OF GBNTILISME. 187 

Eiesight. ^. 

[Lib. xxiii.] c. 6. " Si quis unum ex his (cytinis) solutus 
vinculo omni cincfcus & calceatus, atq^ etiam annuli, decerpserit 
duobus digitis, pollice & quarto sinistrae manus, atq^ ita lustratis 
levi tactu oculis, mox in os additum devoraverit, ne dente con- 
tingaty afSrmatur nuUam oculoru imbecillitatem passurus eo 



anno." 



Ki\_ng*s] evilly ^c. 

[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. " Produnt, si quis inclinata arbore, supino 
ore aliquem nodum ejus morsu abstulerit, nullo vidente, atq^ 
cum aluta illigatum licio h collo suspenderit, strumas et parotidas 
discuti." . * . 

For the same. 

[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. *^ Cortieem (caprifioi) impubescentem puer 
impubis si defraeto ramo detrahat dentibus, medullam ipsam 
adalligatam ante solis ortum, probibere strumas." 

For ye Chin-cough. 

Mdm. to creep under a Bramble that rootes again in the ground 
at the other end. 

To stanch bUmd. 

[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. " Mori germinatione, priusquam folia 

exeant, sinistra decerpi jubentur futura poma hi terram 

si non attigere, sanguinem sistimt adalligati, sive ex vulnere 
fluat^ sive ore, sive naribus, sive haemorrhoidis : ad hoc ser- 
vantur repositi." 

Head-a^h. 

[Lib. xxiii.] c. 8. *^ in capitis dolere, impari numero 

baccas (Lauri) cum oleo conterere, & calefacere." 

So Virg. [Eel. viii. 75] "numero deus impare gaudet." 



188 REM AIKS OF GENTILISME. 



[Lib, xxiii.] 0. 9. " Inguen ne intumescat ex ulcere, satis est 
surculum tantam myrti habere secum, non ferro nee terra con- 
tactum.'* 

Grolling between y* legB. 

Lib. xxiv. cap. 8. " Virgam populi in manu tenentibus inter- 
trigo non metuitor." 

So our countrymen doe weare Elder sticks in their pockets. 

Ad idem. [See pp. 178, 184.] 

[Lib. xxiv.] c 9. "Virgam (Agni casti) qui in manu 
habeant, aut in oinctu, negantur intertriginem sentire." 

Belly^ach. 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 9. " Gravis auctor in medicina, virgam ex 
(tamarice) defractam, ut nee terram nee ferrum attingeret, 
sedare ventris dolores asseveravit impositam, ita ut tunica 
cinctuq. [corpori] apprimeretur." 

Impotence. 

[Lib. xxiv.] c 9. " Aiunt si (Tamarici), bovis castrati urinse 
immisceatur, vel in potu vel in cibo, Venerem finiri. Oarboq. 
ex eo genere urina ea restinctus in umbra conditur : idem cum 
libeat accendere, rursum uritur. Magi et id ex spadonis urina 
fieri tradiderunf 

Secid'Cich. 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 10. Coronam ex Smilace factam impari 
foliorum numero, aiunt capitis doloribus mederi. 

Savine Sf Samolum {Pdsque flower). 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 11. Both much estimed by the Qaulish Druids. 
*^ Hanc [Druidse Gkllorum] Sabinam contra omnem pemiciem 
habendam prodidere, et contra omnia oculorum vitia [fumum 
ejus prodesse] .... Legitur sine ferro dextra manu,'^ suum 
&c. *^ Samolum sinistra manu legi a jejunis contra morbos 
boumq. nee respicere legentem," &c. 



KEMAINS OF QEl^TILISSiS. 189 



Holly'tree, 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 13. " Aquifolia arbor in domo aut yilli sata, 
veneficia arcet" They use to be planted near houses : and in 
churchyards, e.g, within Westminster abbey cloister, &c. 

Pin ^ web in ye eies. 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 15. Aiunt, si quis ante Solis ortum ChamaB- 
laeam capiat, dicatq. ad albugines oculorum se capere, adalligata 
discuti id vitium. 

Conjuraticm* 

[Lib. xxiv.] 0. 17. Aglaophotin herba Magos utique uti, cum 
veUnt Deos evocare de hac herba vide miram historiam apud 
^ianum, c. 27 et 29, lib. 14, de animalibus. Dalec. vocariq. 
cynospartum terrestre &c. Homero Moly. Idem. 

Magick. 

[Lib. xxiv.] c. 17. AchaBmenidon nasci in Taradistilis Lidise, 
'' cujus radice in pastilles digesta, in dieq. pota in vino, noxij per 
cruciatus nocte confiteantur omnia, per varias numinum imagina- 
tiones." 

Ibid. ^^ Adamantida, ArmenidB CappadociaBq. alumnam; Hac 
admota leones resupinari cum hiatu iaxo." 

Ibid. Ophiusa " potA terrorem minasq. serpentium obversari, 
ut mortem sibi eo metu consciscant : ob id [cogi] sacrileges illam 
bibere. Adversari autem ei palmeum vinum." 



Divination. 
Ibid. TheangeUda pota Magi divinent 

To make Beasts tame. 

Ibid. " CEnotheridem cujus aspersu, e vino, feritas omnium 
animalium mitigaretur." 



190 BEMAIM8 OF QEKTUJ8MX. 



Love. 

Ibid. " Anacampserotem cujiis omnino tactu re- 

dirent amores, vol cam odio depositiJ 



»» 



Magick. 

[Lib. xxiv. cap. 19.] Bombotiiium arborem ad etc. ^^ iia 

ut ferro non attdngatur; qui perunctus est despuit ad sxiam 
dextram ter. Efficacius esse remediom aiunt, si tres quoq. 
[trium] nationam homines penmgant dextrorsus." 

The wild Irish, when they blesse your horse, or &^. they spit 
upon him (perhaps thrice, qusere). [See p. 42.] 

^ for Swine. 

Ibid. Lappa canaria effossa sine ferro, et addita in collnviem 
medetur suibus potaturis, vel ex lacte ac vino. ^' Quidam adij- 
ciont et fodientem dicere opportere : Hsec est herba argemon, 
quam Minerva repent subus remedium, qui de ilia gostaverint" 

King^8*eviU and Pain. 

Ibid. ^^ Sunt qui genicula novem, vel unius, vel e duobus 
tribusve herbis,^ ad hunc articulor numerum involvi lana succida 
nigra jubeant, ad remedia strumaa panorumve. Jejunum [debere] 
esse quicoUigat: ita ire in domum absentis cui medeatur, super- 
venientiq. ter dicere, jejuno jejunum medicamentum dare, atq. 
ita adalligare, triduoq. id facere. Quod d graminum genere 
septem intemodia^ habet, efficacissime capiti contra dolores 
adalligatur." 

Preservatives. 
Lib. XXV. cap. 8. Tantumq. gloriaB habet Vettonica, ut 
do[mus] in qua sata sit, ]?^^[ existimetur k piaculis omnibus. 

» Quick- grasse. ' Sc. in the root. 



REMAINS OF G£NTILISM£. 191 

[Lib. XXV.] cap, 9. Utraq. [Verbenaca] sortiuntur Galli, et 
praecinant responsa. Sed Magi utiq. banc rem insaniont. Hao 
peruuctos impetrare quas velint, febros abigere, amicitias con- 
ciliare, nulliq. non morbo mederi. ColHgi circa Oanis ortum 
deberCy ita ut ne Sol aut Luna conspiciat, favis ante et malle 
terra ad piamentam datis. Circumscriptam ferro effodi sinistra 
manu & in sublime tolli. Siccari in umbra, separatim folia, 
caulicem, radicem. Aiuntq. si aqua spargatur triclinium, qua 
maduerit, laetiores convictus fieri. 

Vervaiji and Hypericum against evil Spirits. 

** Verraine and Dill, 
Hinder Witches from their wilL" — ^Dodon: HerbalL 

H jpericon is called Fnga DaBmonum. Some doe putt it^ there - 
fore, under their Pillowes.^ 

Against Witchcraft. 

[Lib. XXV.] c. 9. Cyclaminus " in omnibus serenda domibus, 
si verum est, ubi sata sit nihil noceri mala medicamenta : amu- 
letum vocant." 

Far the Toothach. 

[Lib. XXV.] c. 13. Senecionem (Groundswell) "si ferro circum- 
scriptam effodiat aliquis, tangatq. ea dentem, et altemis ter 
despuat, ac reponit in eundem locum, ita ut vivat herba, aiunt 
dentem eum postea non doliturum. 

Lib. xxvi. c. 8. " Intertrigines negat fieri Cato, absinthium 
Ponticum secum habentibus." 

Cure of Botches. 

[Lib. xxvi.] c. 9. Verbascum, &c. " Experti affirmavere, plu- 
rimum referre si virgo imponit nuda, jejuna jejuno, & manu 
supina tangens dicat, Negat Apollo pestem posse crescere, quam 
nuda virgo restinguat, atq. ita retrorsa manu ter dicat, totiesq. 
despuant ambo.*' 

> [See p. 82 and Appendix.] 



192 R£MA1M8 OF OEMTILUiHS. 

Ague. 

[Lib. xxvi.] c. 11. ^^ Baglosflo inaresoente, si quia medallam 
S caule eximat, dicatq. ad quern liberandum febre id faciat, et 
alliget ei aeptem folia ante accessionem, aiunt k febre liberari." 

Wearineue. 

[Lib. xxvi.] e. 15 [14]. ^' Artemisiam et elelisphacum alliga- 
taa qui habeat viator, negator lasBitudinem sentire.** 



• • • a • • 



Lib. xxvii. cap. 5. ^^ Aster . • . sed ad ingoinam medicinam 
sinistra manu decerpi jubent, et juxta cinctns alligari/' 

Tettar or ringworme. 

[Lib. xxvii.] c. 11. ^^ Lapis vulgaris juxta flumina fert 
museum siccum, canum. Hie firicatur altero lapide, addita 
hominis saliva : illo lapide tangitur impetigo. Qui tangit^ dicit, 

^ebym KavOapidet, \vkoq dypios i&fifie 8mk6L** 

To staunch bloud. 

[Lib. xxvii.] c. 12. Li tertianis quidam sinistra manu Poly- 
gonum adalligant : atq. adeo contra pfluvia sanguinis. 

Contra collectiones infiammationesq. 

[Lib. xxvii.] c. 12. Beseda ^^ Qui curant ea, addunt haec 
verba: Beseda, morbos reseda: scisne, scisne quis hie pullos 
egerit radices ? nee caput, nee pedes habeant. Haec ter dicunt, 
totiesq. despuunt." [See p. 125.] 

Contra inguines et coUectiones. 

[Lib. xxvii.] c. 13 " Thlaspi — " Prsecipitur, ut qui colligit, 
dicat sumere se contra [inguina, et contra] omnes collectiones, 
et contra vulnera, unaq. manu toUat.'^ 



=A 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 193 

Toothach. 

Lib. xxviii. c. 1. " Vi interempti dente gingivas in dolore 
scarificari;^ Apollonius efficacissimnm scripsit." 

This medicine was much used at Bristow, when I was a boy. 



• • • • 



[Lib. xxviii.] c. 2. Vestales virgines " hodie credimus non- 
dum egressa urbe mancipia fiigitiva retinere in loco precatione." 

Cracking of Eggeshells^ or making holes in them. 

[Ibid*] "Defigi quidem diris execrationibus nemo non 
metuit. Hue pertinet ovorum, ut exsorbuerit quisq. calices 
cochlearumq. protinus frangi, aut eosdem cochlearibus perfo- 
ran. 

As in saying thus : The DeviU take thee, or, The Bavens puU 
out thine eyes, or I had rather see thee Pie-peckt : & such like. 

This custome of breaking the bottom of the Egge-shell is (yet) 
commonly used in the countrey. " Because afterwards no 
Witches might prick them with a needle in the name and behalfe 
of those whom they would hurt and mischeefe, according to the 
practise of pricking the images of any person in wax : used 
in the witchcraft of those daies." — Philem. Holland. 

Stopping of an House on fire. 

[Ibid.] Etiam parietes incendiorum deprecationibus circum- 
scribuntur. 

Deprecatio ilia ex Ascanio nota ftdt, si in pariete scribetur 
Arse Vorse. Vide Festum in dictione Arse. Dalecamp. 

'' Festus noteth that in the old Tuscan language the words 
Arse verse signifie Averte ignem (i.) Put back the fire." Phil. 
Holland,! 

Sciatica. 

[Ibid.] Theophrastus ischiadicos carmine sanari (sc. libro 
de enthusiasmo. Dalecamp), &c. plura, vide. 

\} See p. 136.] 



194 BIMAINS OF GSNTILISMS. 



[Lib. xxviii.] c. 2. ^^ Csesarem Dictatorem post mmm anci- 
pitem vohiculi casum, fenint semper, ut pnmmn oonsedisset, id 
quod plerosq. nunc facere scimus, carmine ter repetito securi- 
tatem itinerum aucupari soUtum." 

Wiahing a good New^eare. 

[Ibid.] ^^Cur primum anni' incipientis diem laetis preca- 
tionibas invicem faustum ominamur? " 

This custome we observe at our New-years-tyde. 

Praying for ike Dead, 

Ibid. ^^ Our ad mentionem defimctorum testamur memoriam 
eorum k nobis non solUcitari ? " 

So we say, God rest his Soule in peace. 

Odd numbers. [See p. 187.] 

Ibid. " Cur impares numeros ad omnia vehementiores cre- 
dimus ?" 

So Virg. [Ed. viiL 75.] numero deus impare gaudet. 

And our House-wives, in setting of their egges under the 
Hen, do lay an odd number. 

Sneezing, 

Ibid. Curstemutamentissalutamur? 
Yet in mode : so. we putt off our hatts and say, God blesse 
you. 

gathering of Fruits ^ ^c. 

Ibid. " Cur ad primitias pomorum, haec Vetera esse dicimus, 
alia nova optamus ? " 

These be old, God send us new. 

> First of March. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 195 



When one^8 ear bumes. 

[Lib. xxviii. c. 2.] "Quin et absentes [tinnitu] aurium 
praesentire sermones de se ? " 

We use to say, that when ones eare, or cheeke burnes some 
body talkes of them. 



. • • . 



[Ibid.] In cdBteris vero gentibus, Deos ante obtestantur, ut 
velint. 

So in Herefordshire, &e: when the labom'ers were to doe 
anything, they would say. In the name of God. 



• • • • • • 



Ibid. " Alius saliva post aurem digito relata solicitudinem 
animi propitiat." 

I doe thinke that I have heard something of this. 

Kissing one*s right hand. 

Ibid. " In adorando dextram ad osculum referimus." 
We still kisse our right hands, out of respect : and make a 
legge. 

Lightning. 

Ibid. ^^ Fulgetras poppismis adorare, consensus gentium est." 

(i) Drawing in of the breath: 6 contra, by whistling they call 

for winds, sc. the Winnowers in Herefordshire, &c. [Seep. 21.] 



Ibid. ^' Becedente aliquo ab epulis, simul verri solum, aut 
bibente convivft, mensam vel repositorium tolli, inauspicatissimum 

iudicatur." Item " omnino non esse." " Item. 

" Eepente conticescere convivium adnotatum est non nisi in 
pari prsesentium numero : qua in re famae labor est, ad quemcunq. 
eorum pertinens. 

This is not quite out of fashion. 

2 



196 REMAINS OF GEMTILISiaS. 

l^Omens. See p. 8.] 

[Lib. xxviii.J c. 2. ^' Et sunt condita angaria, si quid 
loqnenti cogitantive. accident, inter execratissima." 

So at the same instant, that Mr. Ashton was goeing oat of 
the honse, when he was goeing to France, the Cock happened 
to crow: at which his wife was much troabled, and her mind 
gave her, that it boded ill lack. He was taken at sea & after 
tryed and execnted. 



• • • • 



Ibid. ^^Medicamenta, priusquam adhibeantur, in mensa forte 
deposita, negantur prodesse." 

Paring ofone^s nailes. 

Ibid. ^^ Ungues resecari nundinis Bomanis tacenti, atq. a 
digito indice, multorum pecuni^ religiosum est." 

Many are superstitious not to pare their nailes (I thinke) 
on a monday: whLh seemes to be derived from 



" Pagana lege in plerisq, Italiae praedijs cavetur, ne mulieres 
per itinera ambulantes torqueant fuses, aut omnino detectos 
ferant, quoniam adversetur id omnium spei, praecipueq. frugum." 

Ibid. " Carmina qusedam extant contra grandiues, contraq. 
morborum genera, qusedam etiam experta." 

blear'eies. 

Ibid. Mutianus ter Consul, viventem muscam circmnligatam 
in linteolo albo, carere ipsum lippitudine. 

Numiers, 

[Lib. xxviii.] cap. 4. "Pythagorae inventis non temere 
fallere, impositivorum nominum imparem vocalium numerum 
clauditates, oculorumve orbitatem, ac similes casus, dextris assig- 
nare partibus, parem laevis." . 



REMAINS OF QENTILISME. 197 



The Woemen have a way of divining whether the hnsband or 
wife shall die first by number of the letters in Latin, or the 
Husbands, and wives Christen-names: which may be derived 
from hence : and one as true as the other. 



Moles in the face. 

[Lib. xxviii. c. 4.] "NaeVos in facie tondere, religiosum 
habent etiam nunc multi." 
This is stiU observed by some. 

Spittle. [See p. 190.] 

[TbiA] "Despuimus comitiales morbos, hoc est, contagia 

regerimus. Simili mode et fascinationes repercutimus 

Yeniam quoq. k Deis spei alicujus audaciores petimus, in sinum 
spuendo. Eadem ratione tema despuere precatione, in omni 
medicina mos est, atq. ita effectas adjuvare : incipientes fiirun- 

culos[ter] presignare jejuna saliva Inter amuleta est, 

editu quemq. urinae inspuere : similiter in calceamentum dextri 
pedis, aiitequam induatur : item si quis transeat locum, in quo 
aliquod periculum adierit Extranei adventu, aut si dor- 
miens spectetur infans, k nutrice ter adspui." 

Countrey boyes & fellowes (I believe all England over) when 
they prepare themselves to goe to cuflFs (boxes) : before they 
strike, they doe spitt in their hands, sc. for good luck to their 
endeavours. 

I remember in Kenty when a person in a declining condition 
recovers and is likely to live longer, it is a proverb to say of him 
that he has spit in his hand, and will hold out the nother year. 
W. K. 



Dead hand, 

[Ibid.] " Immatura morte raptorum manu, strumas, paro- 
tidas, guttura, tactu sanari [affirmavit]. Quidam vero cujusq. 
defuncti duntaxat sui sexus, Iseva manu sinistra [aversa]." 



198 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

Mdm. The wenne that grew in y^ man's oheeke at Stowell, 
in Somerset, as big as an egge, was cured by stroking it with 
his dead kinswomans hand; and Mr. Davy Mell (Mnsitian), had 
a child w^ a hunch back cured in the Uke manner.^ 

Tooih-ach. 

[lib. xxviii.] c. 4. Sunt qui pr»cipiant dentem qui caninus 
vocetur, insepulto exemptum adalligari. 
Of this I have noted before. 

For a quartain Ague. 

Ibid. ^^ In quartanis firagmentum davi k cruce, involutu lana, 
coUo subnectunt : aut spartum e cruce : liberatoq. condunt 
cavema, quam sol non attingat'* 

This is oftentimes donne at Loudon : many have great faith in 
it: y^ hangman getts mony for pieces of the halters for this 
purpose. 

headach. 

[Ibid.] ^^ Inguinibus medentur aliqui, licium telse detractum 
alligantes novenis septenisve nodis, ad singulos nominantes 
viduam aliquam atq. ita inguina alligantes licio." 

Laqueum suspendiosi circumdatum temporibus. 

Used by some still. 

Prevention of y* Tooihcuih, 

[Ibid.] Frigida aqua colluere ora matutinis impari numero 
ad cavendos dentium dolores (semel, ter, quinquies, &c. Dalec). 
This is a common custome. 

Hicqv£t. 

[Lib. xxviii.] cap. 6. " Pleriq. anulum 6 sinistra in longis- 
simum dextraB digitum transferre." 
Yet in use« 

' Dr. Ridgeley. 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 199 



Sitting crosalegged, ^c. 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 6. " Adsidere gravidis, vel cum remedium 
aJicui adhibeatur, digitis pectinatim inter se implexis, veneficium 
est, idq. compertum tradunt Alcmena Herculem pariente." Pejus, 
si circa unum ambove genua. Item Foplites alternis genibus 
imponi. Ideo haec in concilijs ducum potestatum fieri vetuere 
majores, velut omnimn «5tum impedientes." 

When one has ill luck at Cards, 'tis common to say, that some- 
body sitts with his legges acrosse, and brings him iU lack. 

Veiling of bonnets, 

[Ibid.] " Capita aperiri aspecta magistratuum, non venera- 
tionis causa jussere, sed (ut Varro auctor est) valetudinis, 
quoniam firmiora consuetudine ea fierent." 

Transpose this to y® diatribe of Fashions. 

Falling sicknesse. 

[Ibid.] " Clavum ferreum defigere, in quo loco primum caput 
defixerit corruens mbrbo comitiali, absolutorium ejus mali 
dicitur." 

Hercules knot. 

Ibid. ^^ Yulnera nodo Herculis ^ prsBligare, mirum quantum 
ocyor medicina est." 

JTte number foure. 

[Ibid.] " Numerum quatemarium Demetrius condito volumine, 
et quare quatemi cyathi sextarijve non essent potandi." 

Cowiter-charme. 

[Ibid.] *' Hostanes contra mala medicamenta onmia promisit 
auxiliari, matutinis horis suam (urinam) cuiq. instillatam in 
pedem. 

i « Wherein no ends are to be seen, they'are so close conched, & therefore 
hardly to be unloosed." — Fh. Holland. 



200 RBMAINS OF GSNTILISICK. 

Pissing. 

[Lib. xxviii. c 6.], "Magi vetant (meiendi) causa contra 
Solem Lunamque nudari, aut mnbram cujusq. ab ipso respergi." 
Hesiodus jnxta obstantia reddi soadet, ne Deam aliquem nudatio 
ofifendat. See Hesiod iv iprfovi. 

[Lib. xxviii] c 7. " Abigi grandines tnrbinesq^ contra fiJ- 
gora ipsa (muliere) in mense connudata, sic averti violentiam 
coeli, in navigando qnidem tempestates etiam sine menstmis." 

This is certain, that Mariners will not endure a whore on 
shipboard (no more than a dead corps) believing that a Storme 
will seize on them. 

Ague. 

[Ibid.] Ex homine resegmina unguium h pedibus manibusq^ 
cera permixta, ita ut dicatur tertianae vel quatemaB, vel quoti- 
diansB [febri] remedium quaeri, ante Solis ortum aliensB januae 
ai&gi jubent, ad remedia in ijs morbis ; quanta vanitate si falsum 
est, quantave noxia, si transferunt morbos ad innocentiores ! 



»> 



Nwmbers. 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 8. " Pacilius (Hyaenam) capi, si cinctus suos 
venator, flagellumqj imperitans equo septenis alligaverit rodis." 



[Ibid.] " Frontis (HyaBnaB) corium fascinationibus resistere." 

In old Hangings, &e.: we see old Heroes with the skins of 

Lyons, &c., heads on theirs: as also on their knees: which were 

not wome only perhaps for ornament or the like ; but upon some 

medicinall or magicall account. . 

raising Tempests. 

[Ibid.] Chamaeleontis " caput et guttur si roboreis lignis ac- 
cendantur, imbrium & tonitruum concursus facere." 



REMAINS OF QENTILISME. 201 

Braae-^nose Coll. Gate. 

[Lib. xxviii.] o. 10. " Veneficijs rostrum lupi resistere in- 
veteratum aiunt, ob idq^ villarum portis praefigunt." 

The Snowtes or mu£9e that is nailed at the top of the gate is 
like the snoute of some beast ; why not a Wolfe's ? 

Bellyake, 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 13. " Ventris dolore tentari negant talum 
leporis habentes." 

Piaaing a Bed. 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 15. ^^ Magi verrini genitalis einere poto ex 
vino dulei demonstrant urinam facere in canis cnbili, ac verba 
adjicere, ne ipse nrinam faciat, ut canis in suo cubili. 



Ibid. " Inguina & ex uleerum causa intumescunt. Bemedio 
sunt equi setae tres totidem nodis alligatsB intra ulcus.'' 

Joint-gowte. 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 16. " Leporis pedes adalligatos Podagras 
mitigari pede leporis viventis abscisso, si quis secum assidue 
habeat." 

Sleep, 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 19. " Somnos fieri lepore cibis sumpto 
(Quidam supstitiose conciliando somno leporis pedes noctumo 
pileolo alligant.) Dalec. 

This is a saying in the oountrey still : and that it will make 
one looke faire. 

Ibid. " Vulgus et gratiam corpori in vii. dies." 

Salting Meate. 

[Lib. xxviii.] c. 20. "Nullas (cames) teredinem sentire, 
Luna decresente induratas sale." 
This is also religiously observed by some of our Housewives. 



202 BEMAINS OF GENTILI8ME. 



[Lib. xzix.] 0. 5. ** Lapidem a cane morsmn, Jiaq^ in pro- 
yerbium discordisB yenisse '' (Canis in lapidem saeviens). 

(In opinione yolgi fnit, qnibos in sedibns esset lapis k cane 
morsus, discordiae et intestinis disaensionibns omnia perturbaii. 
Dalec.). 

Mies. 

[Lib. xxix.] c 6. '^ Olympise sacro certamine^ nnbes (nrns- 
canim) immolato taoro, Deo quem Mjiodem yocant, extra terri- 
itorium id abire." (This Idol of y* Paynims, I take to be called 
in the holy Scripture Beel-zebub. Ph. Holland.) 

I remember at Oxford (before the Civill warres) the cnstome 
was that some day of y* Whitsun-holydayes, q^ de hoc, the 
Master-eooke (for that yeare) with the rest of his Brethren were 
marched in silke doublets on Horseback, and rode (I thinke) 
to Bartholomews or Bullington-green, fetch in the Flye : the s* 
master-cooke treated his brethren before they rode out. (At 
Exeter Coll. 1642) I sawe them drinke their mornings draughts: 

and on Michaelmas day they rode thither again to < ^wrtrv i 

the Fly away. Methinkes this old Custome lookes as if it were 
derived from that mentioned in Pliny. 

Headach. 

[Ibid.] " Surculus ex nido milvi pulvino subjectus." I have 
heard of this in the countrey. 

Lib. xxix. cap. 3. " Hie tamen complexus anguium et fru- 
gifera eoru concordia, in causa videtur esse, quare exterae gentes 
Caduceum in pacis argumentis circundata, eflSgie anguium 
fecerint. Neq^ enim cristatatos esse in caduceo mos est." 



Lib. XXX. cap. 2. " Tyridabes rex ArmenieniaB Magus .... 
navigare noluerat, quoniam expuere in maria, alijsc]^ mortalium 
necessitatibus violare naturam cam fas non putant." 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 203 



Transplanting diseases. 

[Lib. XXX.] c. 5. " Praecordia vocamus uno nomine exta in 
homine: quoru in dolore cujuscumcjj partis, si catulns lactens 
admoveatur, apprimaturq^ his partibus, transire in eum morbus 
dicitur. Idq^ in exenterato proscissoq^ vivo deprehendi, vitiato 
viscere illo quod doluerit homini : et obrui tales religio est. Hi 
quoq^ quos Melitseos vocamus, stomachi dolorem sedant applicati 
sepius. Transire morbos segritudine eorii inteUigitur, plerumq, 
& morte." 

[Lib. XXX.] cap. 6. " Pecudis lien recens Magicis pr»ceptis 
super dolentem Kenem extenditur, dicente eo qui medeaL, 
lieni se remedium facere." 

[Lib. XXX.] c. ?• Traditur in torminibus, anate apposita ventri 
transire morbum, anatemq. emori. 



5^. For a Fellon. 

[Lib. XXX.] c 12. " Furunculis mederi dicitur araneus, prius- 
quam nominetur impositus^ & tertio die solutus/' &c., w^ see. 



Droitunch Salt Spring, 

Lib. xxxi. c, 7. Sal Tragasseus. 

See the story of Droitwich Salt-Spring [p. 71], 



Of Childrens Coralls. 

Lib. xxxii. c. 2, " Aruspices eorum vatesq. imprimis religiosum 
id gestamen (sc. corallium) amoliendis periculis arbitrantur. 
Surculi infantiaB adalligati tutelam habere creduntur." 



204 BEMAIK8 OF GXMTILISMS. 

Coralls are worne by children still : but in Ireland they valae 
the fiEing-tooth (holder) of an wolfe before it : which they set in 
silver and gold as we doe y* Coralls. 



[Lib. xxxii.] o. 5. ^^ Mala medicamenta (sorceries) inferri 
posse negant, ant certe nocere stella marina sanguine vulpino 
illita, & affixa limini superiori, aut clave sereo janosB.*' 

To this purpose we still use frequently to naile a horse-shoe 
(found by chance) on the threshold of the dore ; nothing more 
common, and most used in London. 

Magical Remedies fof^ Fevers. 

[Lib. xxxiL] c. 10. ^^Cor(ran8e)ada]ligatumfrigorafebrium 

minuit, et oleum, in quo intestina decocta sint : " cum multis 
alijs. 



Ibid. " Infahtium gingivia dentitionibusq^ multum confert del- 
phini cum melle dentium cinis, & si ipso dente giugivas tangan- 
tur. Adalligatusq^ idem pavores repentinos toUit Idem effectus 
et canicula3 dentis." 



Rinffs. 

Lib. xxxiii. c. 1. ^^Manus et prorsus sinistraB maximam aac- 
toritatem conciliavere auro, non quidem Eomanse, quaerum more 
ferreum id erat & bellicas virtutis in signe. 

Wedding Rings. 

Ibid. ^^ Hi quoq^ qui ob legationem acceperant aureos, (annulos) 
in publico tantum utebantur his : intra domos vero ferreis. Quo 
argumento etiam nunc sponsae annulus ferrous mittitur, isq^ sine 
gemma," 



REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 205 

Siffnets. 

[Lib. xxxiii. c. 1.] " Contra vero multi nullas admittunt 
gemmas, auroct ipso signant : id Claudii Gsesaris principatu re- 
pertxim." 

Rinff'fingers. 

Ibid. " Singulis primo digitis fferi mos fuerat, qui sunt 
mimmis proximiT sic in NuhJa Se^j TuUij statois Lemus. 
Postea pollici proximo indu^re, etiam Deoru simulachris : dein 
juvit et minimo dare. (In digito qui minimo proximus est, 
annulus gestabatur, prassertim pronubus, quod in eo venam esse 
crederet rudis antiquitas, ad cor usc^ pertingentem. Alex : ab 
Alex. Dalec.) Gallias Britanniasq^ in medio dieuntur usse. Hie 
nunc solus excipitur : caeteri omnes onerantur, atq^ etiam priva- 
tim articuli minoribus anulis. Sunt qui tres uni minimo conge- 
rant: alij vero & huic unu tantu, quo signanda signent." 

An old verse as to Rings : 

Miles, Mercator, stnltiis, maritns, Amator.. 

Coronets, 

[Lib. xxxiii] c. 2. "Praeterq^ armillas^ civibus dedere, 
quas non habent extemi. lidem coronas ex auro dedere 
civibus." 

^^ A. Fosthumius Dictator apud lacum Begillum castris Latin- 
orum expugnatis, ei cujus maxime opera capta essent, banc 
coronam ex praeda dedit. 

Perhaps our earles and barons' coronets were derived from 
hence. 

Gold. 

[Lib. xxxiii] c. 4. " Vulneratisq^ et infantibus applicatur ut 
minus noceant, si quae inferantur, veneficia. 

1 Before the Civil warres I remember Tom a Bedlams went about a begging. 
Tbej had been snch as bad been in Bedlam, there recoyered, & come to some 
degree of sobemesse, and when they were licencesed to goe ont, thej had on their 
left arme an Armilla of Tinne (printed), about 3 inches breadth: w^ was 
sodered-on. [See Appendix. 1 



».'. 



206 RBMAINS OF OENTILISME. 

Some doe use pure gold bound to old ulcers or fistulas, as a 
secret; and w^ good successe: gold attracts mercury; and I 
have a conceit, that the curing of y^ Kings evil by gold was first 
derived from hence : but the old gold was very pure ; and 
printed w*> S* Mich: the Arch-Angel, & to be stamped ac- 
cording to some Rule Astrological 

Lib. xxxiv. c. 15. « A rubigine vindicator cernssa & gypso & 
liquida pice • . . • . Ferunt quidam et religione quadam id fieri 

Medicina e ferro est et alia, quam secandi. Kamque 

circumscribi circulo terve circumlato mucrone, et adultis et in- 
fantibus prodest contra noxia medicamenta : et praefixisse in 
limine h sepulchre ebulsis davos adversus noctumas lympha^ 
tiones. Pungiq, leviter mucrone, quo homo percussus sit, contra 
dolores laterum pectorumcj^ subitos, qui punctionem afferant. 
Quaedam ustione sanantur: privatim vero canis rabidi morsus.^ 
Quippe etiam praevalente morbo, expaventesq^ potum ust k 
plag4 illico liberantur. 

Searing w** a red-hot iron is a present Remedie for the 
Biting of a Viper ; this, those that gett Adders for the London 
Apothecaries, when they are bitt, doe use. 



Tinning of Brasse-potts. 

|]Lib. xxxiv.] c. 17. " Stannum illitam seneis vasis saporem 
gratiorem facii, & compescit seruginis virus: mirumq^, pondus 
non auget" 

" Album (plumbum) incoquitur aereis operibus Galliarum in- 
vent©, ita ut vix discemi [possit] ab argento, eaque incoctilia^ 
vocant. Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo coepere 
equorum maxime omamentis, jumentorumq^, jugis in Alexia 
oppido : reliqua gloria Biturigum fait. Coepere deinde & esseda, 
& vehicula, et petorita^ exomare : similiq^ modo ad aurea quoque, 

» E' rabidi canis. * CJoctilia. 

» A French waggon w*» 4 wheels. 



REMAINS OF 6ENTILISME. 207 

non modo argentea, staticula inanis luxnria pervenit : qussc|> in 
scyphis cemi prodiginm erat, haec in vehictdis atteri, cultus 
vocatur." 

I never saw tinned-potts y soil. Brasse-potts tinned, till since the 
yeare 1660. 'Tis not every Brazier, that hath attained that 
mystery yet (1691). But Madam Ball doeth assure me, that 
her Father had some Brasse-potts tinned thus, that were her 
grandfather's, S' Geo: Bond, Lord Mayor of London above an 
hundred years since. 

An Apothecaries boy boyling a Potion of in a brasse- 

skillet, was like to have killed a Gentlewoman. 

Scutcheons in Windowes Sfc, 

Lib. XXXV. cap. 2. Alise foris et circa limina animoru in- 
gentium imagines erant, affixis hostium spolijs, quaa nee emptori 
refringere liceret ; triumphabantque etiam dominis mutatis ipsse 
domus ; et erat haec stimulatio ingens, exprobantibus tectis: 
quotidie imbellem dominu intrare in alienum triumphum. 

cap. 11. De aviu cantu compescendo: sc. " draconem in 
longissima membrana depictu circumdedere loco: eoq. terrore 
aves tu siluisse narratur, & postea cognitu est ita posse com- 
pesci." 

ExoTcismes. 

[Lib. XXXV.] cap. 15. " Habet (sulphur) et in religionibus 
locum ad expiandas sujBStu domes." 

Rebuses. 

Lib, xxxvi. cap. 5. Sunt certe etiamnum in columnarum 
epistylijs inscalpta nominum eorum argumenta, rana atq. 
lacerta (scilicet Batrachus & Saurus), who were the Arti- 
ficers). 

So S' Reginald Bray, architect to K. Hen. 7*^, hath set up 
in severall places of y® roofe (vaulture) of the chapeU at Wind- 
sore, a Brakey as a B.ebus for his name. Harington, a hare, a 
ring, & a Tun. Islip, a eie, & the slip of a Tree ; this I well 



208 REMAINS OF QENTIUSKB. 

remember in the HaU windowes where the Children of West- 
minster Schoole dine ; de&oed about 1662. 

The arms of y^ family of DcbeU on a monument in St. Marie's 
Ch. in Oxford is three does and a BdL The rebus of Bekington 
(a Benefactor to Linoobi College) is a Beacon in a Tun cut in 
stone and affixt in the wall of y* first quadrangle. [W. K!.J 

Labyrinihsj ^ Mazes. 

[Lib. xxxv.] cap. 13. ^* Huic utiq. snmpsisse Dsedalum ex- 
emplar ejus Labyrinthi, quem fecit in Creta, non est dubinm, 
sed centesimam tantum portionem ejus imitatum, quaB itineroni 
ambages occursnsq. ac recursus inexplicabiles continet, non (ut 
in pavimentis puerorumve ludicris campestribns videmus) brevi 
lacinia millia passuum plura ambulationis continentem ; sed 
crebris foribus inditis ad faUendos occursus redeundumq. in 
errores eosdem." 

See part • • . concerning the mazes. 

Tiniinnabula* 

Ibid. Porsense Regis Hetrurias sepulchrum — ^'in summo 
orbis seneus & petasus unus omnibus sit impositus, ex quo pen- 
deant excepta catenis tintinnabula, quae vento agitata^ longe 
sonitus referant, ut Dodonas olim factum.'' 

Fundamenta. 

' [Lib. XXXV.] cap. 14. " Templum Ephesiae Dianas ducentis 
viginti annis factum k tota Asia. In solo id palustri fecere, ne 
terrae motus sentiret, aut hiatus timeret. Bursus ne in lubrico 
atq. instabili ftmdamenta tantae molis locarentur, calcatis ea 
substravere carbonibus, dein velleribus lanae." 

The tradition at Salisbury is, that Our Ladies-church there 
was built upon Wool-packs; but I doe believe, that was a 
Figurative expression, as if one should say, that Paules church 
at London were built upon CoaJe : because the Found for the 
building is raised by a tax out of y® Coales that are brought from 
Newcastle ; so I presume, that when Salisbury church was 
building, there was a Tax layd upon the wooUsacks ; Wiltshire 



REMAINS OF OENTILISME. 209 

being the greatest Wooll countrey in England. At Roiien is a * 
Tower called the Butter-tower, which was built out of a Tax on 
y® Butter that was brought. So one might figuratively say it 
was founded upon Butter. 

A like tradition that London-bridge was built upon wooU- 
packs.i [W. K.] 

Hangings, cyr Tapestrk. 

[Lib. XXXV ] cap. 15. " Beliquus apparatus tantus Attalica 
veste, &c: (rendred, a Hanging of Grold). 

Venefida. 

[Lib. XXXV.] cap. 19. "Amianthus* alumini similis, nihil igni 
deperdit. Hie veneficijs resistit omnibus, privatim Magorum." 



• . • 



Ibid. Gttgate " dicuntur uti Magi in ea, quam vocant axino- 
mantiam : et peruri negant, si eventurum sit, quod aliquis optet " 

Gifts to Temples. 

Lib. xxxvii. cap. i. " Hoc exemplo Cesar Dictator sex 

dactyliothecas in aede Veneris Genitricis consecravit: Marcellus, 
Octavia genitus, in Palatina ApoUinis aede cella unam. 

Beata Dei Genitria : The beginning of an old Antheme at our 
Lady-church at Sarum. 

Chesse^oards. 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 2. " Tertio triumph© (Pompeius) die na- 
talis sui egit, transtulit alveum cum tesseris lusoris e gemmis 
duabus latum pedes tres, longum pedes quatuor." 

Horloge. 

Ibid. " Museum ex margaritis, in cujus fastigio erat horolo- 
gimn (quaere de hoc). 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 3. Succinum " infantibus adalligari amu- 
leti ratione prodest." 

^ [These two paragraphs are given at somewhat greater length in Nat. Hist, 
of Wilts, p. 9§ ; and more briefly in Nat. Hist. Surrey, iy. i2. Ed.] 
* It is taken for Alame de plume. 

P 



210 BEMAINS OF GEimLISME. 

THamonda. 

[Lib. zxxvii.] cap. 5 [4]. ^^Adamas & venena irrita facit, 
et lymphationes abigit, metnsq. vanos expellit it mente." 

SUver boatesj far drinking. 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9 [8], Chrysoprasio ** et.amplitado ea est, 
at cymbia etiam ex ea fiant." 

These silver boates are very oommon at Bristow among the 
merchants, who used to carry them in their pockets to Tast wine ; 
they call them Tasters. % They were first called cognea (from 
coggonesy lide boats), y® word is still retained in a cofftie of 
brandy. W. K. 

• . • • 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 8. ^^ Non translucet Molochites, spissius 
vivens, a colore malvae nomine accepto, reddendis landata signis, 
et infantium custodia quadam, innate contra pericala ipsorom 
medicamine." 

Amulets, 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9. " Totus Oriens pro amuletis traditur 

gestare (Jaspidem) quad ex ijs smaragdo similis est & 

Licet obiter vanitatem Magicam hie quoq. coarguere, quoniam 
banc concionantibus utilem esse prodiderunt.*' 

I wonder that here is no mention of the virtue of the Sapbir. 
The Bishops have on the back of y® glove of the .... hand, 
as is to be seen in their monuments at Winton, &c. ; a saphir 
ring. They say it preserves from infection of Pestilential & 
infectious diseases. See Albertus Magnus de hoc : I warrant 
he has recited vertues enough of it. 



[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9. Amethysts " Magorum vanitas resis- 
tere ebrietati eas promittit, & inde appellatas. Prseterea si Lunae 
nomen aut Solis inscribatur in ijs, atq. ita suspendantur coUo e 
capillis cynocephali vel plumis hirundinis, resistere veneficijs. 
Jam vero quoque modo adesse reges adituris. Grandinem quoq. 
avertere & locustas, precatione addita, quam demonstfant," 



BEMAINS OF GENTIUSIO:. 211 

' Tempests. 

[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 10. " Sunt et chelonitides oculis testudi- 
num similes, ex quibus ad tempestates sedendas multi utuntur. 



[Lib. xxxvii. cap. 10.] " Glossopetra linguae similis hu- 
manse in terra non nascitur, sed deficiente Luna coelo decidere, 
et lenocinanti necessaria creditur. Ventos ea comprimi narrant. 
Gorgonia nihil aliud est, quam corallium : nominis causa, quod 
in duretiam lapidis mutatur. Emollit maria. Fulminibus & 
typhonibus resistere affirmant." 

Agnus De€s some believe, to have the like virtue against 
Tempests at sea, &o. 

Invisibilitt/, 

Ibid. " Magorum impudentise vel manifestissimum in hoc 
quoque exemplum est, quoniam admixta herba Heliotropio, qui- 
busdam quoq. additis precationibus, gerentem conspici negent.'* 

Divination. 

Ibid. ^^ Hammonis coram inter sacratissimas ^thiopise gem- 
mas, aureo colore, arietini comus effigiem reddens, promittitur 
prae-divina somnia representare.'* 



Ibid. " Zachalius Babylonius in his libris quos scripsit ad 
regem Mithridatem, humanas gemmis attribuit fata: has non 
contentus oculoru & jocinerum medicina decorasse, a rege etiam 
aliquid petituris dedit & litibus judicijsq interposuit : in praelijs 
etiam eas (Haematites) salutares pronuntiavit." 

• Raising of Spirits. 

[Lib. xxxvii. cap. ll.J " Ananchitide in hydromantia dicunt 
evocari imagines deorum: synochitide umbras inferorum evo- 
catas teneri : dendritide alba defossa sub arbore, quae caedatur, 



212 RSMAIKS OF OBNTILIBMS. 

securis aciem non hebetari. Et sunt multo plnres, magisq. 
monstrifica^ quibas barbari dedere nomina, confess! lapides esse. 
Nobis Bads erit in his ooarguisse illonun dira mendacia." 

FIKIB. 



Painting of AU-house dares with a checquer. 

Athenian Mereuiy, No. 10, March 4^, 169^. 

^^ The most ancient Publick houses were Innsj which had par- 
ticular Licenses from the Barons of the Exchecquer; and payd 
such a Tribute into the King's Exchecquer, and therefore were 
marked with a Checquer^ as the only signe of publick ^Entertain* 
ment Some believe, that Chess was the only play used hj oar 
Ancestors in some publick Houses, which therefore had a 
Checquer for distinction sake, as a Billiard-Table, &c., are now. 
But the antiquity of Chequers (as being the first Signes, as also 
for that for a great while after that Branch of the Revenue was 
tributary to the Crowne, no other Signes were used) shews thi^ 
last opinion to be false." 



APPENDIX I. 



NOTES REFERRED TO IN OR REFERRING TO PRECEDING PAGES. 



Page 5. Dancing in Churches, — ** The practice of dancing in 
churches, "which prevailed among the early Christians, has been by 
some writers supposed to be an imitation of similar proceedings in 
Pagan times. The late Mr. Doiice, who was of this opinion, quotes 
in his Dance of Death, p. 6, a decree of a council held under Pope 
Eugenius II. in the ninth century, in which the custom is thus noticed: 
* Ut sacerdotes admoneant viros ac mulieres, qui festis diebus ad 
ecclesiam occurrunt, ne hallando et turpi a verba decantando chores 
teneant ac ducunt, similitudinem Paganorum peragendo* {Leg, Antiq, 
iii. 84). But may not this practice have arisen among the the Jews? 
We know that David danced before the ark, 2 Samuel, vi. 14 ; and 
Eisenmenger, in Yivr Entdecktes Judenthuniy p. i. s. 46, tells us that it 
is a rabbinical tradition that at the marriage of Adam and Eve in 
Paradise the Creator and the angels danced, having the sun, moon, 
and stars, als dem Frauenzimmer, as partners! A work on the subject 
of * The Religious Dances of the Early Christians,* which I have not 
been able to consult, but which bears a very high character, I mean, 
M. C. H. Bromel's Fent-Tanzen der Ersten Christen, Jena 1705, 
would probably throw great light upon this point," — [ W. J. T. p. 80.] 

Page 5. The Yule Log, — " The learned Dr. Jacob Grimm, in his 
Deutsche Mythologie, p. 117, quotes from the Memoires de VAcademie 
Celtique notices of a similar custom which prevails at Commercy en 
Lorraine: — 'Le 24 Decembre vers les six heures du soir, chaque 
famille met a son feu une enorme buche appelee Souche de Noel, On 
defend aux enfans de s'y asseoir, parceque, leur dit on, ils y attrape- 
raient la gale. Notez, qu'il est d'usage dans presque tout le pais de 
mettre le bois au foyer dans toute sa longueur, qui est d'environ 4 pieds, 
et de Ty faire bruler par un bout.* A somewhat similar practice 

Q 



2 1 4 REMAINS OF GENTILISHE. 

obtains at Bonneval : * La veille de Noel, arant la messe de miunit, 
on place dans la cheminee de Tapparteinent le pins habits une buche, 
la plus grosse que Ton pnisse rencontrer, et qui soit dans le cas de 
resister pendant trois jours dans le foyer. Cest ce que Ini a fait 
donner le nom de trefae^ trefou^, trois feux.' Among the traditions 
of Denmark, recorded by Thiele in his Danske Folkesagtiy 3 sam. s. 
102, is the following: — * When people at Christmas Ehre sit together 
at table and wish to know who among them will die before the next 
Christmas, some one goes out quietly and peeps in at the window, auid 
whoeyer is seen to sit at table without a head will die in the coming 
year.' And from Thiele's note we learn that at Anspach it was belieTed 
that, when at Christmas or New Year's Day the tree which had been 
brought in was lighted, any one had but to look at the shadows of 
those present to learn who would die in the course of the next year, 
for their shadows would be seen headless.*' — [W. J. T. p. 81.] 

Mr. Coote writes: " The Anglo-Saxon word is *geol' not *gehal.' 
The Yule log is Latin in origin. Vico, in his Scienza Nuova 
(Michelet's translation, liv. 2, ch. 5, p. 178, Paris, 1827), says, that 
amongst the common people of Naples in his time (t. e, 1725) it was 
the custom for the father of the family on the night of Christmas 
Ere, seated at his hearth, to set fire to a log of wood, and to throw 
incense and sprinkle wine upon the flames. The month of December 
was in the old pagan system under the tutela of Yesta. Hence there- 
fore the reverence thus shown to the hearth and fire. See the 
Calendarium Farnesinuniy Zell's Delectus, p. 59.** 

Page 5. The Loving Cup. — ** This practice, which is so perfectly in 
unison with the character of a simple-minded people, is clearly allied 
to one still existing, we mean the drinking from the * Loving Cup,' 
a ceremony which is yet observed by several of the City Companies 
when the Courts dine in their halls, though perhaps more immediately 

to the Agapae [see p. 41] In Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, 

pp. 36-38, we have much curious information upon the custom (of 
Pagan origin, but which Christianity never succeeded in out-rooting) 
of Minnetrinken, drinking to the love or rather memory of the absent. 
But the passage is too long to translate, and will not very well admit 
of curtailment."— [W. J. T. p. 82.] 

Pages 7 and 14. Simnel Cakes, — Mr. R. H. Alcock, of Bury, 
sends me the following note upon this subject : — 



NOTES. 215 

" At Bury, in Lancashire, they prepare cakes for Midlent Sunday, 
which they call Simnel Cakes. They are circular in outline and of 
various sizes, from two or three pounds weight up to fifty pounds or 
even more. In composition they are not unlike rich plum cake, but 
contain additional ingredients, including spices. The use of them is 
universal in the town, and when drink was allowed to flow more freely 
than it is now the streets of Bury on Midlent Sunday were scenes of 
much drunkenness; but this scandal is now happily amended. 

" Several attempts have been made to trace the origin of this 

custom and the derivation of the word simnel. One of these derives 

simnel from the Latin semolina, fine flour, which was used for preparing 

the altar- bread of the Catholic Church. This or very similar words 

are used in Holstein, and by other people of the Saxon race, to 

designate a sort of bun or cake made of wheat flour, superior in 

quality to the rye-bread in common use. Another supposition is, 

that the original and proper name of the cake is simblin and not 

simnel, and that the latter is a corruption introduced by newspaper 

writers and confectioners who considered it more euphonious and 

less rustic than the older and common name ; and this may be 

true, for even twenty-five years ago simblin was much the more 

usual name. On this basis the following argument has been raised : 

That Midlent Sunday was always held before the Reformation as 

a sort of popular festival ^ at which families assembled all their 

members together, and that the old English word * simbel ' signifies 

a feast, a meeting, or coming together. Symblian and symbl, we are 

told, are forms in which the verb to feast is written, and hence ' sym- 

blende ' or feasting-cake is the origin of the name * symblin cake ' of 

Bury, where it was used at this festival of Midlent. This explanation 

is ingenious and seems not improbable, if we admit that * simblin ' is 

the original name, though even then it is difiicult to understand how 

such a general proposition should have such a purely local application, 

and why Bury alone should have its * simblin cakes.' By some the 

name is referred to Lambert Simnel, who in 1487 landed in North 

Lancashire, and on his march southward had his force strengthened, 

among others, by Sir Thomas Pilkington, of Pilkington and Outwood 

and Lord' of Bury, who joined him along with several of his dependants. 

After the defeat of Lambert Simnel this Sir Thomas Pilkington was 

taken and beheaded, and his estates, including the demesne of Bury, 

were confiscated. It may be presumed that many if not most of the 

families of Bury sustained losses during these disturbances, and hence 

Q2 



216 REMAINS OF OEKTILISME. 

it has been sapposed that the simnel cakes were originally fnneral 
cakes eaten in commemoration of these events. 

*' All these conjectores are more or less fanciful, yet it is possible 
that each of them may contain some tmth. The deriyation from 
semolina seems too sound to be lightly pat on one side, and the two 
words simnel and simblin might exist side by side with the same or 
with different deriyations in the old time before Lambert Simnel; bat 
it remains to be accounted for why this particular manner of celebrating 
Midlent Sunday should be peculiar to Bury, and it is possible that the 
local connexion with Lambert Simnel may haye seryed to perpetuate 
his name in connexion with the cake, and at the same time an old 
custom which in most places has fallen into desuetude." 

The Burtf Times for March 6, 1880, contains a reprint of a long 
paper on Simnel Sunday, which was '' published a few years ago by 
one of our Lancashire weeklies.'* 

Page 9. Sowlegrove, — Mr. Coote notes: "The Wiltshire name of 
^ SowlegroTC ' may rather seem to be a reminiscence of the anniversary 
sacrifices in February for the repose of the souls. 

' Placatis sirnt tempera pnra sepulchris, 
Tunc cum ferales praeteriere dies/ — Fast, 2, y. 33, 34. 

What * grove ' is a corruption of, I do not know." 

Page 9. Lew. — " A.-S. hleow, or hleo, shelter, shade, covering ; Du. 
lauw. Shelter from the wind. * In the lew zide o' the hedge.' * On 
fisses holtes hleo : ' * Within this grove's shelter/ Thence i^e-ward, the 
opposite of windward, and a Zee-shore. Also tepid, as lew-warm, luke- 
warm, which is from the A.-S. wlaec; Ger. lau, lau-warm; Da. luiiken; 
Du. laauw/' — Barnes's Dorset Gloss. (1848), p. 357. 

^^ Lew, calm and warm. The people of South Wilts have this 
proverb : * Sowle grove sil lew,' i. e. * February is seldom warm.' So 
in Kent we say a lew hedge, under that side where the wind does not 
come. So Dunelm. to lie imder the lee, or lew, or laigh, i. e. under y« 
shelter, A.-S. hlaefe, Agger, aceruus. Hence Mr. Noel sais is y® 
name of Lewes in Suss/' — Kennett, Lansd. MS. 1033. 

Page 12 (top). This " charme " occurs in Peele's Old Wives Tale 
(1595) : " Did you never hear so great a wonder as this, Three blue 
beans in a blue bladder, rattle, bladder, rattle/* 



^ 



NOTES. 217 

Page 12. Day Fatality. — ^Mr. Solly sends the following as an 
illustration of how much Cromwell thought of fortunate and un- 
fortunate days. " His letter to the Speaker, W. Lenthall, from 
Worcester, dated 3rd Sept. 1651, announcing the victory, hegins : — 
* Being so weary and scarce able to write, yet I thought it my duty 
to let you know thus much, that upon this day, being the third of 
September (remarkable for a mercy vouchsafed to your forces on this 
day twelvemonth in Scotland), we beat the enemy totally,' &c. &c. 
The conviction of the fortunate day must have been very strong in 
Cromweirs mind when he wrote this hurried letter after * five hours 
as stiffe a contest as ever I have seen.' " 

Page 15. Pipe and Tahor. — " The pipe and tabor, after contri- 
buting to the amusement of the people for centuries in a manner 
to ensure them the admiration, if not of musicians, at least of all 
advocates of the ' greatest happiness ' principle, have at length 
disappeared from among us, and left behind nothing but a name 
closely associated with the rural pastimes of the country. Aubrey, 
who like too many antiquaries is for referring the origin of everything 
to the Komans or the Druids, derives the tabor from the sistrum 
of the Komans. The reader who will take the trouble to consult 
Schilling's Universal Lexicon der Tonkunst, under the words * Sistrum ' 
and *Rappel,' will soon be convinced of Aubrey's error, while the 
same work, sub voce * Tamburin,' shows us the antiquity of the tabor 
from its use (or rather its prototype, the timbrel) by Miriam as an 
accompaniment to her song and dance of victory after the passage of 
the Red Sea. (See Exodus xv. 20.) "— [W. J. T. page 84.] 

" When King Charles II. was at Salisbury, 1665, a piper of Stratford 
sub Castro playd on his tabor and pipe before him, who was a piper 
in Queen Elizabeth's time, and aged then more than 100." — Nat, 
Hist. Wilts, p. 70. 

Pages 16, 20. Holy -water-sprinkle, — This was the old English name 
for the aspergillus, or brush used by the priest for sprinkling the 
congregation before high mass, and on other occasions. It is called 
" holy water spryngelle or strencle" in Prompt. Parv,; and in Turner's 
Lihellus (1538), a brush-like horsetail {Equisetum) is called "hally- 
water stryncle," on account of its resemblance to an aspergillus. 

Page 18. The Holy Mawle. — " In spite of all the erudition which 
Aubrey has displayed upon the subject of this very repulsive 
superstition, we suspect that, though ' much disguised (after the old 



218 REMAINS OF GENTILISHE. 

fashion) in the Romancy-way/ it is connected with some of those 
personifications of the word Hamar (tnaUeu$)y with the attributes of 
death or the evil one, referred to by Grimm in his Deutsche Mytho- 
logie, s. 124, et $eq. and which seem again, from another passage 
in the same work (p. 559), to have somewhat of a biblical foundation. 
Hieronymns, in a letter to Pope Damasns, in which he treats of the 
Parable of the Prodigal Son, speaks of Malleus as among the names 
of the devil {Greg. Magn. Oxon. i. 1125), * In Scriptnra sacra Mallei 
notnine Diabolns designator, per qnem nunc delinqaentiuni cnlpse 

periantor, aliqnando vere percnssio cielestis accipitnr nam 

quia in appellatione Mallei antiqms hostis exprimitur, Propheta tes- 
tator, dicens : Quomodo confractos est et oontritns malleas universae 
terne,* Jerem. 1. 23, which is rendered in the English version, * How 
is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken ? ' The 
English reader will bear in mind that in the inscription round the 
tomb of Edward I. in Westminster Abbey that monarch is termed 
< Malleus Scotorum.' **— [W. J. T. pp. 84-5.] 

Page 20. Immuring of Nuns. — It would appear that this is a 
subject which investigation may prove to have been much mis- 
represented. In a notice of the Camp of Ee/uge, edited by Samuel 
H. Miller, which appeared in The Academy for Dec. 11, 1880 (p. 421), 
the following passage occurs : " We are sorry to find that one of 
[the notes] gives additional currency to the horrible fable that it 
was a monastic practice for the authorities to cause evil monks and 
nuns to be walled up in niches. The splendid description in * Marmion * 
of such a scene renders it well-nigh impossible to convince people 
that such things were not, but it is necessary to do what one can to 
remove such an undeserved stigma upon the memories of men and 
women who would have shrunk from such a refinement of cruelty with 
as much horror as ourselves. We must beg Mr. Miller, before he 

issues a new edition to read what the late Archdeacon 

Churton has said on this painful subject in the Reports of the Asso- 
ciated Architectural Societies, ii. 311-15. No man of his day was 
more capable of investigating such a story as Scott tells with judi- 
cial impartiality; and of it he says without hesitation that as a 
part of monastic discipline there never was a time when it could have 
been true." 

Page- 22. Altars. — " Aubrey repeats this observation, but with a 
diiierence, as the heralds say, where he is treating of high places 



NOTES. 219 

Lp. 98] Grimm, in his Introduction (xx.), .... has some 

very interesting remarks upon the manner in which the early Chrifitians 
* converted temples into churches, erected chapels on the hills dedi- 
cated to the gods, and founded monasteries in the sacred woods,' &c. 
M. Le Roux de Liucy, in his introductory volume to Le Livre des 
L^gendeSj has devoted one chapter to * Traditions of Forest and Hills,' 
in which he quotes a number of traditions relative to the Tombeleine 
and Mont Saint Michel, referred to in the text, from the very elegant 
and interesting volume published by M. Raoul in 1883, entitled 
Histoire Pittoresque du Mont Saint Michel et de Tombeleine, &c."— 
[W. J. T. p. 86.] 

Page 22. S. Adelm, — " Old Bartlemew, &c. old people of Malmesbury, 
had by tradition severall stories of miracles donn by St. Adelm, some 
whereof I wrote down heretofore; now with Mr. Anth. Wood at Oxford, 
I remember the tradition in our parts was, that St. Adelme, abbot of 
Malmesbury, travelling by Haselbery, threw down his glove, and said, 
if they digged there they should find great treasure ; they digged and 
found a quarrie of excellent freestone, whereof our churches and 
monasteries were built. He had travelled abroad, and by the surface 
of the ground could easily guess that freestone was underneath that 
cmstr— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 207. 

Page 23. Offerings at Funerals, — The following extract, from an 
article on '* Churchyard Superstitions " in the St, Jameses Gazette^ 
seems to imply that this custom of offering money still survives. " A 
curious surviving custom at Welsh funerals is termed the * parson's 
penny.' After reading the burial service in the church, the clergyman 
stands behind the table while a psalm is being sung. In the meantime 
each of the mourners places a piece of money on the table for his 
acceptance. This ceremony is regarded as a token of respect to the 
deceased, although it was no doubt originally intended to compensate 
the clergyman for praying for the soul of the departed. In some 
Welsh parishes also a similar custom, called * spade-money,' is kept 
up. After the corpse has been committed to its resting-place the 
grave-digger presents his spade as a receptacle for donations, these 
offerings, which often amount to a goodly sum, being regarded as his 
perquisite." See also Bingley's North Wales, 

Aubrey is in error in saying that "these are mentioned in the 
Kubrick of the Church of England Common Prayer Book." 



220 REMAINS OF GKNTIUSME. 

Pa^c 25 (lost line). Midsummer-Men. — For detoils regarding this 
custom, see Brand, i. 329-830 (Bohn's edition). 

Page 26. Bmjires an S. John's night. — See Brand, ii. 317-9 (Bobn's 
ed.) It may be worth while noting that the practice is still (1880) 
general in many parts of Ireland, e,g, co. Oalway and co. Limerick. 

Page 28. Ambrose J?rotrn.— -He was 103 years old at the time of 
his death, 166- .—See Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 69. 

Page 29. S. Oswald. — ^This localisation of the martyrdom of 
S. Oswald differs from that given by Alban Butler (Lives of the 
Saints, Aug. 5). It appears from Butler s remarks that a good deal of 
doubt existed as to the actual locality. S. Oswald was a popnlar saint 
in pre-reformation times; the author referred to says that his prayer 
for the souls of the soldiers who slew him became proverbial ; *' it 
became a proverb, * O God, be merciful to their souls,' said Oswald 
when he fell." 

Page 29. St. Twosole. — Similar corruptions of the name of a saint are 
offered by " T'andry " for St. Andrew, certain cakes made in Bucking- 
hamshire on the feast of St, Andrew being called '* T'andry cakes " 
(Henderson's Folk-Lore, ed. ii. p. 98); and Tawdry for St. Audrey or 
Etheldreda. " At the fair of St. Audry, at Ely, in former times, toys 
of all sorts were sold, and a description of cheap necklaces, which, 
under the denomination of tawdry laces, long enjoyed great celebrity. 
Various allusions to tawdry laces occur in Shakspeare, Spenser, and 
other writers of their age." — Chambers's Book of Days, ii. 459. 

Page 31. Funeral Song. — ** This remarkable specimen of the funeral 
dirge has been printed by Sir Henry Ellis in his edition of Brand, 
ii. 180, and also, somewhat differently, by Sir Walter Scott in his 
Minstrelsy, ii. 141, neither of whom, however, furnishes us with 
that important passage as regards the mythology on which the song 
may be said to be founded, which describes the bridge of Dread as 
being * na brader than a thread ; * which passage, though a marginal 
addition in Aubrey's MS., is clearly of the same age and authority 
as the rest of the poem, and therefore deserving of particular notice 
as identifying the myth with cognate Jewish and Mahommedan 
fables. In the remarks which Sir Walter Scott has prefixed to it, after 



NOTES. 221 

noticing the wor(J sleet, in the refrain (for in his version we read, 
* Fire and sleet and candlelight'), which he supposes to be * corrupted 
from selt or salt,* a quantity of which, in compliance with a popular 
superstition, is frequently placed on the breast of a corpse, he proceeds 
to quote from a MS. in the Cotton Library, Julius, F. vi. 459 (con- 
taining an account of Cleveland in Yorkshire in the reign of Eliza- 
beth), the following curious illustration of it: — 

** * When any dieth, certaine women sing a song to the dead bodie, 
reciting the journey that the partye deceased must goe ; and they are 
of beliefe (such is their fondnesse) that once in their lives it is good 
to give a pair of new shoes to a poor man, forasmuch . as after this 
life they are to pass barefoot through a great launde full of thornes 
and furzen, except, by the meryte of the almes aforesaid, they have 
redeemed the forfeyte ; for at the edge of the launde an oulde man 
shall meet them with the same shoes that were given by the partie 
when he was lyving ; and, after he hath shodde them, dismisseth 
them to go through thick and thin without scratch or scalle.' 

" After numerous quotations to show that * the mythologic ideas of 
this dirge are common to various creeds,' Sir Walter has given at full 
length the very minute description of the Brig o' Dread, from the 
MS. legend of ' Sir Owain,' in which the bridge is described as 
placed between paradise and purgatory. There occurs, however, in 
the Preliminary Discourse (pp. 120-1, ed. 1801), which Sale has 
prefixed to his translation of the Koran, a passage so very curiously 
illustrative of this peculiar superstition that I trust I may be excused 
if, notwithstanding its great length, I quote it entire. 

" * The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Mahom- 
medans hold that those who are to be admitted into paradise will 
take the right-hand way, and those who are destined to hell-fire will 
take the left ; but both of them must first pass the bridge, called in 
Arabic al Sirat, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and 
described to be finer than a hair and sharper than the edge of a sword, 
so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to 
stand upon it ; for which reason most of the sect of the Motazalites 
reject it as a fable, though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of 
the truth of this article that it was seriously affirmed by him who 
never asserted a falsehood, meaning their Prophet, who, to add to the 
difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared this bridge is beset on 
each side with briars and hooked thorns, which will, however, be no 
impediments to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and 



222 BEMAIMS OF QBNTILISME. 

swiftness, like lightning or the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems 
leading the way ; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and 
extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the 
extinction of the light, which directed the former to paradise, will 
soon miss their footing and fall down headlong into hell, whicli is 
gaping beneath them. This circamstance Mohammed seems to have 
borrowed from the Magians, who teach that, on the last day, all 
mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge, which they call Pal ChinaTad, 
or Chtnarar : that is, the straight bridge, leading directly into the 
other world, on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed 
by God to perform that office, will stand, who will require of eyery 
one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we 
hare already mentioned. It is true the Jews speak likewise of the 
bridge of hell, which they say is no hroader than a thready bat then 
they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the 
idolaters, who will thence fall into perdition.' 

'^ Sale's account of this Jewish bridge, ' no broader than a thread,' 
is confirmed by Esenmenger, in his Entdechtea Judenthum, ii. s. 258. 

'< Notwithstanding the great length to which this note has already 
extended, I cannot bring it to a close without referring the reader to 
that very curious chapter (xxi.) in Grimm's Deutsche Mythologies in 
which he treats of the 'soul'; more especially to that part of it 
which relates to the soul's passage across the gulf which separates 
this world from the infernal regions, wherein mention is made of its 
traversing the bridge across the river (see page 483); more particularly 
with respect to the dirge which has called forth these remarks, the 
passage in which he speaks of the Todteiischuh, or shoe of the dead 
(in the old Norse tongue Helsko), which was bound on the foot of 
the deceased as a preparation for the long journey on which he was 
setting forth; and from which custom, although now no longer observed, 
the honours paid to the dead are at Henneberg, and many other places, 
slill designated as the TodtenschuhJ** — [W. J. T. pp. 90-1.] 

Pages 32, 40. Amulets, — For a good chapter on this subject see 
Pettigrew's Superstitions y pp. 47-54 : see also p. 124, &c. 

Page 33. Well/lowering. — "The custom which Aubrey has here 
recorded, on the authority of Anthony Wood, is clearly one whose 
origin may be traced to the times of Paganism, and, as such, it affords 
us a striking example of the manner in which the rites of heathenism 



NOTES. 223 

were eventually Christianized, when it was found that they had taken 
so strong a hold upon the affections of the people, that the decrees of 
councils and the sermons of the priesthood were in vain directed 
against them. Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 68, 70, and 
326-334, contains an abundance of curious materials illustrative of 
the veneration in which certain fountains, springs, and streams were 
formerly held, and of the various peculiar customs to which this feeling 
has given rise. And in Sir Henry Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular 
Antiquities, ii. 266, 267, a number of similar particulars are collected, 
in illustration of the following passage, which we quote as having 
peculiar reference to Aubrey's memorandum on the subject of Well- 
worship. Various rites appear to have been performed on Holy 
Thursday at wells in different parts of the kingdom, such as decorating 
them with boughs of trees, garlands of tulips, and other flowers placed 
in various fancied devices. In some places, indeed, it was the custom, 
after prayers for the day at the church, for the clergyman and singers 
even to pray and sing psalms at the well. 

*• The custom of well-flowering is still practised on Holy Thnrsdays 
at Tissington in Derbyshire [and in other places in the same county] ; 
see Lysons' Magna Britannia, vol. v. p. ccxli.: * There is service in 
the church on that day, and a sermon, after which each of the wells 
is visited, and the three psalms for the day, with the epistle and gospel, 
are read, one at each well, of which there are five, of remarkably clear 
water.' See also that agreeable miscellany, Hone's Evei^ Day Book^ 
ii. 640, where the correspondent, after giving an account of the 
Tissington Well-Flowering, refers to the ancient practice of sprinkling 
the Severn with flowers, a practice alluded to by Dyer in his poena of 
the Fleece, and by Milton in his Comus : — 

The shepherds, at their festivals, 

Carol her good deeds lond in rustic lays, 

And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream 

Of pansies, pinks, and gandy daffodils.'* 

" In Partridge's History of Nantwich, 1774, p. 69, is the following 
accoimt of a similar custom which prevailed at that place: 'Every 
Ascension Day our pious ancestors sang a hymn of thanksgiving for 
the blessing of the brine. That ancient pit, called the Old Biat (ever 
held in great veneration by the townspeople), was on that day bedecked 
and adorned with green boughs, flowers, and ribbands, and the young 
people had music and danced round it, which custom of dancing, and 
adorning the pit continued till a very few years ago.' Klemm, in his 



224 RKMAINS OF GBNTIUHME. 

Handhuch der Germanischen Alterihvmshundey p. 338, tells ns that 
among the old Germanic tribes salt-springs were considered as sacred, 
and the wish to possess them led to frequent contests and bloodshed *' 
W. J. T. [pp. 92, 93.] 

The S. Richard alladed to by Aubrey is commemuratcd on April 3, 
but the account given of him by Alban Butler, from his life by Halph 
Bocking, his confessor, does not agree well with Aubrey^s statement. 
Butler says he '' always manifested the utmost dislike to gay diyersions," 
and ** condescended to become his brother's senrant." 

Page 38 (last paragraph). Slough of an adder. — ^The following 
extracts from the Royal Society MS. give a more detailed account of 
the uses of this: — 

'* For the prick of a thome. R. a piece of the slough of an adder, 
and ije it to the wrong side of the finger or, <&c. that is pricket with 
a thome: it will open the orifice that you may pluck it forth. From 
Mrs. Markey, Sir Jo. Hoskyn's aunt.'* — Folio 1 64. 

'^ For the spleen. Take a finger length of the slough of an adder 
in powders. I knew one that tryed it with good successe. Tn Sussex 
they weare hattbands of them for the headach or &c." — Folio 165. 

The following extracts from the same MS. may find place here: — 

" Sir Thom, Trenchard, of Dorsetshire, walking in his parke at 
Lich-yate, was stung in the foot by an adder: which he killed. He 
presently betooke himselfe to his chamber; the (male or female) 
adder hunted him on the foot, and came and bounc't at his chamber 
doore ; they opened the doore and killed it. This is attested by the 
family. 

'' The fundament of a pigeon applied to the bite-place of an 
adder, that pigeon will quickly dye ; then put on another, &c., till no 
more will dye. Capt. Hamden." — Folio 166. A somewhat similar 
remedy (for hydrophobia) is given in Philosophical Transactions^ 
xiv. 410 (1687) : " Pluck the feathers from the breech of an old 
cock, and apply it bare to the bite, and do this upon each of the 
wounds. If the dog were mad, the cock will swell and die, and the 
person bitten will do well ; but if the cock dies not, the dog was not 
mad. If the wounds be very small, it is requisite to open them with 
a lancet." 

Page 42. Love-feasts. — •*'Ayairai, or love-feasts, or revels. These 
stories are verily believed by most of this parish [Frensham] and by 



NOTES. 225 

many of their daughters, who can hardly be of any other opinion, so 
powerful a thing is custom joyn'd with ignorance. I remember the 
very same tradition and belief is in and about Camelot in Somerset- 
shire, where King Arthur kept his court. Homer in his Odysses 
reports that Ulysses in his travels came to a town where at one end 
of it it was day and at the other night. Mr. Thomas Hobbes in his 
translation makes this observation in the margin : Homer did not 
believe this, but it was a pleasure to him to think how much the 
learned could make the ignorant believe." — NaU Hist, and Anttq, of 
Surrey, iii. 366-7. 

Page 43. Cocklebread, — " * Cockell-Bread * is mentioned in Peele*s 
Old Wives Tale, but the ingenious editor of that early dramatist 
expresses his regret that, * after many inquiries on the subject of 
cockell-bread,' he is unable to inform the reader what it was (Peelers 
Works, i. 234). The mystery is now clearly solved, for the question 
in Burchardus, which we here quote at length (from Grimm, xxxix.), 
fully establishes the correctness of Aubrey's views as to the origin of 
this game : — * Fecisti quod quasdam mulieres facere solent, prostemunt 
se in faciem, et discoopertibus natibus jubent, ut supra nudas nates 
conficiatur panis, et eo decocto tradunt maritis suis ad comedendum. 
Hoc ideo faciunt ut plus exardescant in amorem illorem.' 

"The name *Hot Cockles' is derived by Strutt, in his Spoi^ts and 
Pastimes, p. 393, ed. 1833 (which contains, however, no allusion to 
any such Norman word as that to which Aubrey refers), from the 

* Hautes Coquilles ' of the French. In the Memoires de VAcademie 
Celtique, tom. iii. we have a description of a curious marriage custom, 
which may possibly bear some reference to the * cockel-bread,' or at 
least to the etymology of the name." — [W. J. T. pp. 95-6.] 

Mr. H. C. Coote writes : — "I have more than once heard a nurse 
say to a baby, tossing it up in her lap — 

* Up with your heels and down with your head, 
That is the way to make cockle bread.' " 

Page 50. Pentalpha, Pentacle. — '*The*Pentaculum Salomonis,' the 

* Druden-fus ' of the German magical writers, and which is regarded 
at the present day by the superstitious in Germany as an eflfective 
hindrance to the power of witches, is said to have its origin in the 
secret doctrines of the Pythagoreans, and to have been from thence 
transferred to the mysteries of Druidism. Be this as it may, it is 



226 REMAINS OF OENTILISME. 

certain it was looked npon in the Middle Ages as a sign of immense 
power ; and, at the present moment, the magical Pentalpha, in the 
western window of the son them aisle of Westminster Abbey, is one 
of the emblems which still exist, and tell to the initiated that -the 
black monks who once chanted in the qnire were deeplj read in occolt 
science. We are not therefore surprised to find it treated of in 
Dr. Carl Grabner*s BUder der Wwiderhufut und des Aberglaubens, 
8yo, Weimar, 1837, p. 86, or that (}oethe should hare made Faost 
avail himself of its inflnence,— 

< Fur seiche halbe Hollenbmt 
Ist Salomoni4 Schluuel gut/ 

but it would scarcely be expected that a belief in its influence should be 
grayelj avowed in a work published at the commencement of the nine- 
teenth century : — ' It is always necessary to have this Pentacle in readi- 
ness to bind with, in case the spirits should refuse to be obedient, as they 
can have no power over the exorcist while provided with and fortified by 
the Pentacle, the virtue of the holy names therein written presiding with 
wonderful influence over the spirits. It should be made in the day 
and hour of Mercury, upon parchment made of a kidskin, or virgin, 
or pure clean white paper, and the figures and letters wrote in pare 
gold ; and ought to be consecrated and sprinkled (as before often 
spoken) with holy water.' (Barrett's Magus, book ii. pt. iii. p. 109." — 
[W. J. T. p. 98.] 

Page 49. Smallpox, — "In smallpox red bed-coverings were em- 
ployed, with the view of bringing the pustules to the surface of the 
body. The bed furniture and hangings were very commonly of a red 
colour ; red substances were to be looked upon by the patient. Burnt 
purple, pomegranate seeds, mulberries, or other red ingredients, were 
dissolved in their drink. In short, as Avicenna contended that red 
bodies moved the blood, everything of a red colour was employed in 
these cases." After citing the treatment of Edward II. alluded to by 
Dr. Kennet, Mr. Pettigrew continues : " Wraxall, in his Memoirs, 
says, that the Emperor Francis I.; when infected with the smallpox, 
was rolled up in a scarlet cloth by order of his physician, so late as 
1765, when he died. Kaempfer {History of Japan) says, that 'when 
any of the emperor's children are attacked with the smallpox, not only 
the chamber and bed are covered with red hangings, but all persons 
who approach the sick prince must be clad in scarlet gowns.'"-' 
Pettigrew's Superstitions, pp. 18, 19. 



NOTES. 227 

Page 51. Chaucer* 8 Tregetaurs, — "A much more recent instance of 

such 

' An apparance jraade by some magike; 
As jogelenrs platen at these festes grete/ 

is given in the first volume of The Gentleman^ s Magazine (1731), 
p. 79, where we are told that on the 15th February 'the Algerine 
Ambassadour went to see Mr. Fawkes, who at their request shew'd 
them a prospect of Algiers, and raised up an apple tree, which bore 
ripe apples in less than a minute's time, which most of the company 
tasted of.' This Faux was a well-known character in his day, and 
fully entitled to be called a ' conjuror,' since, in the account of his 
death, which is recorded in the isame magazine, he is said to have 
died worth 10,000/., acquired by his dexterity. Faux may be consi- 
dered as a legitimate descendant of Pasetes the juggler, described by 
Agrippa in his Vanity of Arts as being * wont to shew to strangers 
a very sumptuous banket ; and, when it pleased him, to cause it vanish 
awaye, al they which sate at the table being disappointed both of 
mete and drinke.' See also Warton's Histoid of English Poetry^ ii. 
238, who, speaking on the subject of Chaucer's Tregetour, observes, 
* We frequently read in romances of illusive appearances framed by 
magicians, which by the same powers are made suddenly to vanish.' 
To trace the matter home to its true source, these fictions have their 
origin in a science which professedly made a considerable part of the 
Arabian learning. In the twelfth century the number of magical and 
astrological books translated into Latin was prodigious. The reader 
who is anxious to satisfy himself of the truth of this assertion may 
readily do so. In the collections of Early English Prose Romances^ 
which the Editor of the present volume published some years since, 
ample proof of Warner's accuracy may be found. See the Lyfe of 
Virgilius, p. 25 ; The Famous History of JDr. FaustuSy pp. 101 and 
121 ; and The History of Fi^er BacoUj p. 29 ; while among the 
German legends of Number Nip which Busching has collected in his 
Volks-Sagen, Marchen, vnd Legenden there occurs also a similar 
scene, and which is translated in Thoms's Lays and Legends of Germany ^ 
p. 216. The reader is referred for further illustration of the subject to 
Tyrwhitt's Notes upon this very passage of the Franklin's Tale, and 
to Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, book iii. cap. iv.; , . . . [also] to 
Luther's Table Talk, in the xxxvi"* chapter of which he will find a 
very curious story of a trial of magical skill between the Emperor 
Frederick, the father of Maximilian, and a conjuror; see p. 390 of 



228 REMAINS OF GENTILI8ME. 

tlifl translation published at London in 1652, fol."— [W. J. T. pp. 
99- 100.] 

Page 5G. Striking a Bargain, — " A custom somewhat analog^ons is 
said to exist in Westminster School at the present day, where two boys 
who agree to fight go through the form which thej call chopping 
hands; and it is said that this form of accepting a challenge is looked 
upon as so irrevocable that there has scarcely ever occurred an instance 
of the combat so resolved upon not taking place." — [W. J. T. p. 100.] 

Page 57. Nodding of Images.^^The quotation from what has been 
called ** Dr. Foxe's lying Book of Martyrs " may, of course, refer to a 
matter of fact well known at the time. But it is as well to note that 
Collier {Church History , iv. 426-7) says that "whether the impostures 
[alleged by Henry and his followers against monasteries] are matter 
of fact will be a question." " It is sufficiently evident to any one who 
will take the trouble to inquire that our forefathers were not the blind 
fools some modems suppose, to be juggled by any priest who pulled 
the strings of a puppet; nor did any one dare to accuse them of such 
folly while they were alive to reply." — Our Ladjfs Dowry^ by the 
Rev. T. E. Bridgett, p. 302, where is other matter bearing on the 
subject. 

Page 59. Whijyping Tom. — " * Whipping Torres Rod for a proud Lady * 
is the title of a satirical tract published about the year 1744. Whipping 
Tom himself would appear to bear some resemblance to Mumbo Jumbo, 
who disciplined the * wandering maids and women' of Africa." — 
[W. J. T. p. 101.] 

Page 61. Death by Enchantment, — " Though there is little authority 
for Aubrey's assertion that the death of Edward the Sixth had been 
compassed * by witchcraft by figures of wax,' and though his supposed 
union of the Duke of Buckingham's mother with Lord Ancram is so 
great a blunder that it is not easy to guess its origin, yet the practice 
of attempting to destroy the lives of individuals by such a process was 
formerly exceedingly common ; so much so, indeed, that Dobenek, in 
his Volksglauhen des Deutschen Mittelalters, ii. 20-28, devotes a chapter 
to this peculiar subject. Shakspeare has perpetuated, in the second 
part of Henry the Sixth, the charge brought against Eleanor Cobham, 
the Duchess, of conspiring — 



NOTES. 229 

* With Margery Jonrdain, the cunning witch, 
And Boger Bolinbroke, the conjuror,' 

that they should, to use the words of Fabyan, * devise an image of 
wax like unto the king ; the which image they dealt so with that by 
their devilish incantations and sorcery they intended to bring out of 
life, little and little, the king's person, as they little and little con- 
sumed that image.' Our history aflFords also many other instances 
of such attempts, but the most recent which we have met occurs in 
Camerarius's Dissertationes Physico-Medicce^ 8vo, Tubingen, 1712, 
where we have an account of the endeavour of a prisoner at Turin to 
procure the death of the prince then reigning by stabbing a waxen 
image, after he had made use of several superstitious ceremonies, and 
also of a consecrated host. The man's knowledge, that upon the 
accession of a new prince to the dominions of Savoy and Piedmont all 
criminals were set at liberty, induced him to make this attempt, for 
which, after he had had his flesh torn off with red-hot pincers, he was 
hanged and quartered. And in the Memoirs of Literature^ v. 125, 
whence the above account is derived, we are told that another man 
had suflFered the same punishment for the same crime, at Turin, sixty 
years previously." — [W. J. T. pp. 101-2.] 

Page 68. Old. Wivea^ Tales, — " This is stated rather too strongly. 
Malmesbury mentions Bede, the Saxon Chronicle, Ethelward, and 
Eadmer, as authorities with which he was conversant. Of these, the 
first and second alone are of much importance for the Saxon periods 
of our history; and Malmesbury's narrative of that period is prin- 
cipally founded upon them, with some occasional assistance derived, 
as he acknowledges, from ^cantilenoBj old songs, a source of history not 
at all to be despised."— [W. J. T. p. 102.] 

Page 68. St, George and the Dragon, — " Selden has poured out all 
his learning upon the subject of England's patron saint in his Titles 
of Honor, part ii. cap. v. ss. 41-4, in which he severally treats * Of 
the chiefest testimonies in the Eastern parts of the Greek Church 
concerning Saint George ' ; ' The chiefest testimonies concerning 
him in the Western Church ' ; * A consideration how he came to be 
taken for the Patron Saint of the English nation, and of his Feast 
Day'; and * Of the Figure usually representing Saint George'; and 
where the reader will find ample information upon all the points 

R 



230 REMAINS OF UEiniLlSME. 

tonched upon in Aubrey's memorandmn. Sdden was inclmed to 

beliere * that his name had been first taken to as under Sdward i^e 

Third/ but felt some doubts upon the point, seeing that^ ^ in a most 

ancient Martyrologie, peculiarly belonging to this kingdome, he is the 

only saint mentioned for the three and twentieth of Apiill, though 

both in the Greek and Latin Martyrologies there be divers more 

beside him on that day, TJnlesse there had beene some singular 

honor given him from this nation, why should his name alone be so 

honored with it.' The Martyrology to which Selden referred is the 

Saxon one in the library of Bennet College, Cambridge. A striking 

instance of the esteem in which the patron saint of England's soldiery 

was held at the battle of Poictiers is giyen in the curious collection of 

poems, written by Peter Suchenwirt, the Qerman poet and herald of 

the fourteenth century: — 

' Di Frantzois scbrienn ' Nater Dam I *' 
Das spricht: XJnser Fraw mit nam; 
Der Eng;eli8chen chrey erhal ; 

* Sand Jors ! Sand Jors I * * &c. 

* The Frenchmen shont forth * Notre Dame,' 
Thus calling on Our Lady's name; 
To which the English host reply, 

* Saint George 1 Saint Gteorge ! * their battle cry.' 

See Peter Suchenwires Werke, &c. Wien, 1827, p. 60."— [W. J. T. 
p. 104.] 

Alban Butler and Baring-Gould {Lives of the Saints, under the 
date April 23) may be consulted by those interested in the history of 
St. George. 

Page 70. Mazes or Mizmazes, — **The lines quoted by Aubrey are 
from the ballad (written by the well-known Thomas Delomey, and 
printed by Percy, EeliqiteSf ii. 143) on the subject of * Fair Eosa> 

mond,' the beautiful mistress of Henry II Brompton 

(apud Decern Scriptores, 1151) has probably furnished the founda- 
tion of one part of the legend, who says, * Huic puellad spectatissimse 
fecerat Rex, apud Wodestoke, mirabilis architectural cameram operi 
Dedalino similem, ne forsan a Regina facile deprehenderetur, sed ilia 
cito obiit.' But, as Sir James Macintosh observes {History of Eng- 
land, i. 171), *he speaks only of a contrivance against surprise; and 
clearly intimates that Rosamond died a natural death.' " — [ W. J. T. 
p. 105.] 



NOTES. 231 

Page 79. Rings. — "Aubrey here alludes, it is presumed, to the 
diamond ring originally given by Elizabeth to Mary as a pledge of 
affection and support, and which Mary commissioned Beatoun to talce 
back to her when she determined to seek an asylum in England. 
(See Camden's Elizabeth^ p. 109, ed. 1615 ; Lingard, viii. 15, ed, 
1838.) The following is one of Buchanan's Epigrams on the subject 
of the ring described by Aubrey (see p. 177 of the edition of his 
Poems, published at St. Andrew's, 1594): — 

Loquitur Adamas in cordis effigiem sculptus, qxiem Maria 

ElizaheihoB Angl, misit 

* Qaod te jampridem videt, ac amat absens, 
Hasc pignns cordis gemma, et imago mei est; 
Non est candidor, non est hsdc pnrior illo, 
Qaamyis dura magis, non mage firma tamen/ 

And another Epigram, entitled ' De Adamante misso a Begina 
ScotisB ad Reginam Angliae,' will be found on p. 154 of the same 
volume." — [W. J. T. p. 107.] See Mr. W. Jones's Finger-Ring Lore, 
pp. 340-8. 

Page 80. Spitting on money for luck. — This is still a common 
practice about London, and apparently also in Yorkshire, where " some 
persons take out their money when first they hear the welcome cry [of 
the cuckoo], and spit upon it for good luck. Spitting for good luck 
on the first money taken during the day is very common ; this money 
is popularly called hansel." — Science Gossip, 1867, p. 1 77. 

Page 82. Fuga Dcemonum. — " A house (or chamber) somewhere in 
London was haunted ; the curtains would be rashed at night, and 
awake the gentleman that lay there, who was musical, and a familiar 
acquaintance of Henry Lawes. Henry Lawes to be satisfied did lie 
with him, and the curtains were rustled so then. The gentleman grew 

lean and pale with the frights ; and Dr. cured the house of this 

disturbance, and Mr. Lawes said that the principal ingredient was 
Hypericon put under his pillow." — Miscellanies^ pp. 140-1. Another 
account of this is given as follows in the Royal Soc. MS. fol. 118: 
"St. John's wort [Hypericon], plentifuU in North- Wilts, and it 
growes also in Cranbom Chase. 'Tis Fuge daemonum. A gentleman 
haunted with evil spirits had his curtains rasht every night and 
brought into leanesse : was freed from them by putting Hypericon 

b2 



232 RBMAIK8 OF GENTIU8ME. 

and Ros Soils nnder his pillow. This Dr. Ridgeley, M.D., who knev 
him, told me." Parkinson {Theatrum Botanicum, p. 573, 1640) says 
of Hypericum perforation: "Some have called it Fuga-dcemonum^ 
saperstitionsly imagining that it will drive away deyills;" and Lang- 
ham {Garden of Healthy ed. ii. p. 583, 1633) says : '' Kept in the 
honse, it snffereth no wicked spirit to come there.^ See also p. 191. 

Page 82. True Lover^a JTnot^.— The following is a fuller description 
by Clare than that qaoted in the footnote : — 

*' When 1 was yoimg, and went a weeding wheat, 
We naed to make them in onr dinner seat: 
We laid two blades across, and lapt them roond. 
Thinking of those we loved; and, if we fonnd 
Them linked together when nnlapt again, 
Onr loves were tme ; if not, the wish was vain. 
IVe heard old women, who first told it me. 
Vow that a tmer token conld not be." 

Shepherd'' i Calendar, pp. 147-8. 

Miss Baker speaks of — *^ Spells or charms, made by rnstics, of the 
blades of the oat or wheat, and sometimes of the reed-blade.'^ — North- 
amptoneh, Oloee. p. 407. 

Page 90. Sortea Virgtliance, — "A very different account of the inci- 
dent related by Aubrey is given by Welwood in his Memoirs^ pp. 93 
and 94 (ed. 1820), where it is said that it was the king himself who, 
being at Oxford and viewing the public library, was shown a magnifi- 
cent Virgil, and induced by Lord Falkland to make a trial of his 
fortune by the Series VirgiliancBy and opened the book at the passage 
just referred to. Weldon [Welwood] adds : * It is said King Charles 
seemed concerned at this accident, and that the Lord Falkland, observ- 
ing it, would likewise try his own fortune in the same manner, hoping 
he might fall upon some passage that could have no relation to his case, 
and thereby divert the king's thoughts from any impression that the 
other might have made upon him; but the place that Falkland stum- 
bled upon was yet more suited to his destiny than the other had been 
to the king's, being the following expressions of Evander upon the 
untimely death of his son Pallas, as they are translated by Dry den : — 

* O Pallas I then hast f aiPd thy plighted word, 
To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword; 
I warn'd thee, but in vain; for well I knew, 
. What perils youthful ardour would pursue; 



NOTES. 233 

That boiliog blood wonld cany thee too &r; 
Yonng as thou wer't in dangers, raw to war I 
O caret essay of arms, disastrous doom, 
Prelade of bloody fields and fights io come.* 

Sir Henry Ellis, Original Letters^ 1st series, iii. 828, remarks upon 
the manner in which the king^s body was disposed of, ^ That opinions 
differed, at the time of this king's death, respecting his interment, 
cannot be doubted ; ' adding, after quoting the above statement from 
Aubrey, * Sir Henry Halford's Account, however, of what appeared on 
opening the coffin of Eling Charles the First at Windsor, on the 1st 
of April, 1818, has set this question perfectly at rest.' " — [ W. J. T. 
p. 110.] 

Page 92. LoUmeadea- — These Lot-meads constitute a very curious 
survival from the primitive village community. They doubtless formed 
a portion of the annual redistribution of lands which took place among 
the villagers. This redistribution leads us back to the very earliest 
times of English history. At Wanborough, Sutton-Benger, and 
Marlborough, there may have been the one lot-mead only representing 
the last surviving relic of the times when the inhabitants of these towns 
met together every year to divide by lot the arable lands belonging to 
their community. Sir Henry Maine in Village Communities in the East 
and West, M. Laveleye in Primitive Property, Professor Nasse in The 
Land Community of the Middle Ages, have thoroughly explained the 
particulars of this early form of landholding. Mr. Benjamin Williams, 
F.S.A. in Archaeologia, vol. xxxiii. and Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.SA. 
in Archaeologia, vol. xlvii. have given important details connected with 
England. But the best way to illustrate the lot-meads mentioned by 
Aubrey is to give the following account of the whole process as it has 
been performed in Somersetshire : — 

In the parishes of Congresbury and Puxton are two large pieces of 
common land, called East and West Dollmoors, which are divided into 
single acres, each bearing a peculiar and different mark cut in the turf, 
such as a horn, four oxen and a mare, two oxen and a mare, pole-axe, 
cross, dung-fork, oven, duck's nest, hand-reel, and a hare's tail. On 
the Saturday before Old Midsummer, the several proprietors of estates 
in the parishes of Congresbury, Puxton, and Week St. Lawrence, or 
their tenants, assemble on the commons. A number of apples are 
previously prepared, marked in the same manner with the before- 



234 REMAINS OF GBNTIUSME. 

mentioned acres, which are distribnted bj a yonng lad to each of the 
commoners firom a bag or hat. At the close of the distribution each 
person repairs to his allotment, as his apple directs him, and takes 
possession for the ensuing year. An adjoomment then takes place to 
the house of the overseer of Dolemoors (an officer annnallj elected from 
the tenants), where four acres, reserved for the purpose of paying 
expenses, are let by inch of candle, and the remainder of the day is 
spent in that sociability and hearty mirth so congenial to the soul of 
a Somersetshire yeoman. (Collinson's History and Antiquities of 
Somersetshire, iii. 586, quoted in Blount's Tenures of Land and 
Customs of Manors, by Hazlitt, pp. 80-81, and in Hone's Every Day 
Bookj sub voce 28rd June.) 

For a further illustration of how much the district of Malmesbury, 
of which Aubrey says so much, possessed many of the relics of this 
bygone custom, a letter printed in the AthencBum of April 24, 1880, 
p. 587) by Mr. Q. L. Gomme, may be referred to. 

Page 98. Candlemas Day.— -Another prognostic taken from this 
day is given in Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 16: — 

'^ In South Wiltshire the constant observation is that if droppes doe 
hang upon the hedges on Candlemas Day that it will be a good pease 
year, it is generally agreed on to be matter of fact ; the reason perhaps 
may be that there may rise certain unctuous vapours which may cause 
that fertility. (This is a general observation, we have it in Essex. I 
reject as superstitious all prognosticks from the weather on particular 
days.— John Ray.)*' 

Page 98 (top). Those interested in this unsavoury subject will find 
a good deal of information in the Philosophical Transactions^ xxx. 
840-2 (1718). 

Page 113. Sillyhow, — This is a Scotch word for the caul: "In 
Scotland, according to Ruddiman (Glossary to Douglas's Virgil)^ it is 
called a haly or sely how, a holy or fortunate cap or hood. A midwife 
in Scotland is called a howdy or howdy wife." — (Pettigrew's Supersti- 
tions, p. 86.) 

Page 115. Divining Rod, — Under the initials "B.M." I have given 
a short sketch of the history and use of the divining rod in the Gar- 
deners^ Chronicle for Oct. 17 and 24, 1874. Reference may also be 



NOTES. 235 

made to Gent. Mag. 1751, pp. 607-8, 1752, p. 77 ; Hone's Year-hooh, 
tinder Dec. 30 ; Billingslej's Agricultural Survey of the County oj 
Somerset (1797); Vallemont's La Physique Occulte ou Traite de la 
Baguette Divinatoire ; Phippen*s Narrative of Practical Experiments 
(1853) ; Chevreul's De la Baguette Divinatoire (1854). A list of 
treatises on the subject is given in Notes and Queries, first series, 
X. 468; find a popular sketch of it in Baring-Gould's Curious Myths 
of the Middle Ages. 

Page 120. Proverbs. — "Thieves' handsel ever unlucky." InBohn's 
Handbook (p. 99) corresponding proverbs are given in Italian, French, 
Greek, and Latin : " ill-gotten goods seldom prosper " is our usual 
form. "Misfortunes seldom come alone" or "never come single" 
has one Latin and three French equivalents (Bohn, p. 116), but no 
Spanish one is given. 

Page 123. jFaiW^*.— " In the vestry here [Frensham], on the north 
side of the chancel, is an extraordinary great kettle, or caldron, which 
the inhabitants say, by tradition, was brought hither by the fairies, 
time out of mind, from Borough-hill, about a mile from hence. To 
this place, if any one went to borrow a yoke of oxen, money, &c., he 
might have it for a year, or longer, so he kept his word to return it. 
There is a cave, where some have fancied to hear musick. On this 
Borough-hill (in the tything of Cherte, in the parish of Frensham) is a 
great stone lying along, of the length of about six feet ; they went to 
this stone, and knocked at it, and declared what they would borrow, 
and when they would repay, and a voice would answer, when they 
should come, and that they should find what they desir'd to borrow at 
that stone. This caldron, with the trivet, was borrowed here after 
the manner aforesaid, but not retum'd according to promise ; and 
though the caldron was afterwards carried to the stone it could not 
be received, and ever since that time no borrowing there. The people 
saw a great fire one night (not long since) ; the next day they went to 
see if any heath was burnt there, but found nothing. But I do believe 
that this great kettle was an ancient utensil belonging to their church- 
house for the use of the 'AyaTrai, or love-feasts, or revels." — Nat. Hist, 
and Antiq, of Surrey , iii. 366. 

Page 124. Abracadabra. — " With this spell one of W^Us hath cured 



236 BElCAIiaS OF GEKTlLISlfE. 

aboTO a hundred of the ague.'* Bee Miscellanies^ pp. 183-4. Petti- 
grew*s Superstitions, p. 53, should also be consulted. 

Page 182. Eton School. — A good account of the "salt" custom at 
Eton will be found in Chambers's Book of Days, ii. 665-6. 

Pages 186-8. OarUmds. The custom aJt NewnUm on Trinity Sun- 
day, — This remarkable custom, as related by Aubrey, was obtained by 
him originally from a " Mr. E. G.,** who wrote to him a long letter 
detailing the custom as it is inserted in his manuscript. This letter is 
dated " Fest. Ascens. 1682," and is printed in a small pamphlet 
entitled ^^Miscellanies on several Curious Subjects : now first puhlisKd 
from their respective originals. London : Printed for E. Curll at the 
Dial and Bible, oyer against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street, 
1714.** The letter contains the following opening, which is interesting 
from a literary point of view in showing how much Aubrey was known 
and respected for his antiquarian pursuits : — " Sir, — Hearing you 
were upon a survey of the North Riding of the County of Wilts, 
I thought thi» authentick account of the Town of Newnton might be 
acceptable to you, and be a small Help to your Design : For the 
Truth of what I send you, I have good Authority, and the particular 
Novelty of it might deserve a Place in your much wish'd for Work : 
It is as follows. . * Newnton. This Village affords a lovely Prospect 
to the South, S.W. and S.E. On the South it is terminated by the 
blue Hills of Hackpen, Cheshill, &c., of that Range, between Malmes- 
bury-Town and the Ruins of the Abbey, with Charlton House (the 
Seat of the Earl of Berkshire) and, *till the late unhappy Wars, with 
the Woods of Charlton Park and the Park of Hyams. At the upper 
end of this village was Sir Giles Escourt's House, Knight and Baronet, 
Lord of this Mannor, flank'd with a delicate Grove of Oaks, which he 
cut down and sold for £700. This Village, long Time ago, stood a 
little higher in the Field, where they still plough up Foundations of 
Houses : The Tradition is, that it was burnt and then built here, 
whence it was call'd Newnton, quasi New-Town. At the upper end 
of this Town, at the old Manor House, where the old Pidgeon House 
is, is a fine Fountain of Free-stone, from whence the Water was 
brought in Pipes of Lead to Malmesbury- Abbey ; they sometimes 
digg'd for the Pipes, but now I think few are left. Some of these 
Pipes have been digg'd up within these 20 yeai's. This Town was 



KOTES. 237 

given to Malmesbury Abbey. The Church here was anciently a chapel 
of ease to that Abbey, from which it is distant above two Miles.' " 

From this printed copy it is worth noting the following variations 
in spelling from that in Aubrey's MS. 

The Tele-howse on page 137 is printed by Curll eale-houae, 

" You shall pray to God," line 3, p. 188, reads, " You shall praise 
God " in the printed letter. 

" Dan " in line 15 is printed " Don," and the following additional 
notes. 

Page 137, " Tele House." The printed letter continues after the 
paragraph given by Aubrey, ** of which house there is an account in 
Sonmer's Glossary, at the end of the English historians, printed at 
London 1652." 

The matters connected with Aubrey in this pamphlet are as 
follows : — 

V. "Mr. Lidall's Letter to Mr. Aubrey on the Disturbances at 
Woodstock Mannour- House in 1649." 

VI. " Mr. Faschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, giving an account of a 
strange storm of Thunder." 

VII. <* Mr. Paschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, about a Discovery of 
some Ruins, &c, at Athelney." 

VIII. " Mr. Aubrey's designed Introduction to the Survey and 
Natural History of the North Division of the County of Wilts." 

XL ** Mr. E. G.'s Letter to Mr. Aubrey, giving an Account of an 
old Custom at Newnton in Wiltshire." 

Xn. " Mr. Paschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, concerning the Lead 
Mines and several Matters of Antiquity discovered in Somersetshire." 

Page 153. Hardmen. — '* The oath referred to will be found in Segar's 
Honour Militarie and Civilly fol. 1602, p. 134. The superstition on 
which the supposed safety of this * bold-faced villain' was founded 
is clearly allied to that which forms the groundwork of Weber's beau- 
tiful opera, * Der Freischutz.' Some traces of it will also be seen in 
the story of the * Magic Gun,' one of the Palatine legends, printed in 
the Lays and Legends of Ireland. In Dr. Carl Grabner's Bilder der 
Wunderkunst, p. 30, we have, however, a more particular reference to 
this art of rendering the body invulnerable. It is there stated to be 
commonly known as the Pas-Passau in 1611, by the hangman of 
the town^ wbo gaTC them scraps of paper to swallow, inscribed with 



238 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

the mystical signs and words, 'Arios: Beji, Glaji, Ulpke, nalat, 
nasala, eri Inpie,' and which, in the belief of the credalous, enabled 
them, under the command of the Archduke Matthias, to defeat the 
ill-paid and dispirited forces of his brother the Emperor Rudolph XL 
Another method of accomplishing this object is also related bj Grabner, 
who, at p. 205, tells ns, on the authority of Hartmann's Teufels- 
Stucklein, Frankfort, 1678, that a Jew once presented himself before 
Duke Albrecht of Saxony, and offered him a charm {Knop), engrayed 
with rare signs and characters, which should render him invulnerable. 
The duke determined to try it, had the Jew led out in the field with 
his charm hanging round his neck; he then drew his sword, and at the 
first thrust ran the Jew Mrow^rA."— [W. J. T. pp. 112-113.] 

Page 158. Purple 2>y«.— The paper referred to will be found in the 
Philosophical Transactions, xv. 1278-1286 (1685):— "A letter from 
Mr. William Cole, of Bristol, to the Phil. Society of Oxford, con- 
taining his Obseryations on the Purple Fish." 

Page 161. Plygain, — Bingley, North Wales, ed. ii. (1814), quotes 
from Pennant as follows : " On the morning of Christmas-day, about 
three o'clock, the inhabitants used formerly to assemble in the churches; 
and, after the prayers and sermon were concluded, they continued their 
singing psalms and hymns with great devotion till daylight. Those 
who through age or infirmity were disabled from attending the church 
invariably read the prayers in their own houses, and sang the appro- 
priate hymns. This act of devotion was called plygain, ' the crowing 
of the cock.* " 

Page 162. Lent is dead. — ** The Jack cC Lent named in the preceding 
song refers to an image so called which was formerly thrown at in 
Lent, like cocks on Shrove Tuesday. Thus Ben Jonson, in his Tale 
of a Tub, says — 

* On an Ash Wednesday, 

When thou didst stand six weeks the Jack a* Lent, 
For boys to harl three throws a penny at thee.' 

" In the introduction to the second volume of Kinder und Haus- 
Mahrchen of the Brothers Grimm we are told that in the * Neckar- 
thal ' it is the custom for the boys to dress themselves with paper 



NOTES. 239 

caps, wooden swords, and sham moustacLios, and go from house to 
house singing 

< Eier 'raus, eier 'rans, 
Der Marder ist im Hiihnerhans ! ' 

(Eggs out I eggs oat 1 the polecat's in the hen-hcnse !) 

until they receive some eggs, which at night they either eat or sell." — 
[W. J. T. p. 114.] 

Page 165. Bones mixed with Ale. — The Eoyal Soc. MS, (fol. 184) 
refers as follows to this repulsive custom: " Dead men*s boniss, burnt 
to ashes and putt into drinke, doe intoxicate exceedingly. It was 
very much used in Ireland, for the prevention whereof a statute was 
made." 

Page 174. Chapel at Turvill Acton.^r-Cir. p. 77, where it is said 
to have been dedicated to St. Luke. 

Page 175. Plants upon graves. — The following passages are con- 
nected with the " imagining " referred to by Aubrey : — 

" Mr. Wyld saies, that in the ditches about Worcester, where the 
great fight was, An*^ 165 . . (wherein the bodies of the slaine lye 
buried), doe growe huge thistles : quaere of what sort? " — Eoyal Soc. 
MS.M.12S. 

" Danesblood (ebulus) about Slaughtonford in plenty. There 
was heretofore (vide J. Milton) a great fight with the Danes, which 
made the inhabitants give it that name." — Nat. Hist. WiltSf p. 50. 

** This place (Gatton) is renowned for a great slaughter committed 
on the plundering Danes by the women ; and as a confirmation of 
this tradition the vulgar show the herb called Dane-wort in great 
plenty, which they fancy to have sprung from the Danish blood.*' — 
Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iv. 217. 

The tradition referred to here in connection with Sambucus Ebulus 
is well known; it is sometimes associated with other plants. — See 
Diet, of English Flant-Names, pp. 142, 143 : and a paper which I 
contributed to the Gardeners* Chronicle for 1875, p. 515. The "bore- 
thistle " mentioned at p. 175 is Carduus lanceolatus. 

Pages 178, 184. Wearing of an Elder-stick. — In the Eoyal Society 
MS. fol. 139, is the following extract from Coles's Art of Simpling, 



240 RKMAIN8 OF GEMTILI8ME. 

which contains a slightly more detailed account of the custom : *' It is 
generally believed in Wiltshire (in the west), that if a man take an 
elder-stick and catt it on both sides (so that he preserre the joint), 
and put it in his pocket when he rides a journey, he shall never gall. 
Our grasiers and carriers doe commonly doe thus.'* 

Page 189. "Far a pinne and webbe in the eye, a pearle, or any 
humour that comes out of the head. — My father laboured under this 
infirmity, and our learned men of Salisbury could doe him no good. 
At last one goodwife Holly, a poore woman of Chalke, cured him in 
a little time. My father gave her a broad piece of gold for the 
receipt, which is this : Take about halfe a pint of the best white wine 
vinegar, put it in a pewter dish, which sett on a chafing dish of coales 
covered with another pewter dish ; ever and anon wipe off the droppes 
on the upper dish tiU you have gott a little glassefull, which reserve 
in a cleane vessell; then take about half an ounce of white sugar 
candie, beaten and searcht very fine, and putt it in the glasse, so 
stoppe it, and let it stand. Drop one drop in the morning and 
evening into the eye, and let the patient lye still a quarter of an hoar 
after it. I told Mr. Eobert Boyle this receipt, and he did much 
admire it, and took a copie of it, and sayd that he that was the 
inventor of it was a good chymist. If this medicine was donne in a 
golden dish or porcelane dish, <&c. it would not doe this cure, but the 
vertue proceeds, sayd hee, from the pewter, which the vinegar does 
take off."— iVa^ Hist. Wilts, p. 74. 

Page 198 (top). Stroking with a dead hand, — The following some- 
what fuller account is given in Royal Soc. MS. fol. 361-2. " 'Tis 

certain the touch of a dead hand hath wonderfull effects, e.g 

of Stowell in Somersetshire had a wenne in the inside of his cheeke, 
as big as a pullet egge, which by the advice of one was cured by 
once or twice touching or rubbing with a dead woman's hand (e contra 
for a woman, a dead man^s hand). He was directed, first, to say 
the Lord's Prayer, and to beg a blessing; he was perfectly cured 
in a few weeks. I have seen the man, and Mr. Paschal, Hector of 
Chedley [?] attests it. Mdm. Mr. Davys Mells (a famous violinist 
and clockmaker) had a child crookback't cured thus, as the learned 
Dr. Ridgely hath averred to me. — [^^ee Brand (Bohn's ed.),iii. 276-8.] 
Dr. Ealph Bathurst, Dean of Wells, and one of the Chaplains to 



NOTES. 241 

King Charles 1st, who is no superstitious man, protested to me that 
the curing of the king's evill by the touch of the king does puzzle his 
philosophic ; for whether they were of the House of Yorke or Lan- 
caster, it did. 'Tis true (indeed) there are prayers read at the 
touching, but neither the king minds them nor the chaplaines. Some 
confidently report that James, D. of Monmouth, did it ; quaere." Mr. 
Pettigrew has a long and interesting chapter on " the Royal Gift of 
Healing" (Superstitions^ pp. 117-54). 

Page 198. Hangman's rope. — In Russia fragments of this are 
believed to confer luck upon gamesters: see Folk-Lore Becord, iii. 
137; also Brand (Bohn's ed.), iii. 276-7. 

Page 205, footnote. Tom a' Bedlams. — " Till the breaking out of 
tho civill warres, Tom 6 Bedlam's did travell about the countrey. 
They had been poore distracted men that had been putt into Bedlam, 
where recovering to some sobemesse they were liceutiated to goe a 
begging : e. g. they had on their left arm an armilla of tinn, pnnted in 
some workes, about four inches long: they could not gett it off. They 
wore about their necks a great horn of an oxe in a string or bawdrie, 
which, when they came to an house for almes, they did wind: and 
they did put the drink given them into this horn, whereto they did 
put a stopple. Since the warres I doe not remember to have seen 
any one of them. (I have seen them in Worcestershire within these 
thirty years, 1756: MS. note, anonymous.)" — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 93. 

"The practice of thus marking the poor *Tom a' Bedlams' resembles 
that of compelling the poor lepers of the Middle Ages to reside in 
houses set apart for them, and to give notice of their approach by 
ringing a bell, or sounding their clap-dish ; a custom which has given 
rise to some of the most pathetic incidents introduced into the ballads 
and songs of the people." — [W. J. T. p. 114.] 

There is a song entitled " Tom a Bedlam," purporting to represent 
the ravings of a madman, in Durfey's Wit and Mirth, iii. 43. 



APPENDIX n. 



FOLK-LORE EXTRACTED FROM AUBREY'S WORKS (THE "MIS- 
CELLANIES " EXCLUDED), NOT IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED 
WITH SUBJECTS REFERRED TO IN THE ** REMAINES." 



Proverbial Sayings. — " A Wiltshire proTerb: — 

< When the wind is north-west 
The weather is at the hest: 
If the raine comes out of east 

Twill raine twice twenty-fonr howres at the least* " 

Nat. Hut. WUtSy p. 16. 

'* A proverbial rithme observed as infallible by the inhabitants on 

the Seyeme side: — 

. < If it raineth when it doth flow, 

Then yoke yoor oxe, and goe to plongh; 

Bnt if it raineth when it doth ebb, 

Then nnyoke yonr oxe, and goe to bed.' "— -M. 

" Old Wiltshire conntry prognosticks of the weather: — 

< When the hen doth moult before the cock, 
The winter will be as hard as a rock; 
Bat if the cock monlts before the hen, 

The winter will not wett yonr shoes seame.' " — Id, 

[There is a similar rhyme in Swainson's Weather Folk-Lore^ p. 238.] 

" 'Tis a saying in the West that a dry yeare doe cause a dearth." — 

Id.ij^ 33. 

"A proverb: — 

' Salisbnry plain 
Neyer without a thief or twain.' " — Id, p. 69. 

[Cfr. Bohn's Handbook of Proverbs, p. 223.] 

" Proverb for apples, peares, hawthorns, quicksetts, oakes: — 

* Sett them at All-hallow-tyde, and command them to grow; 
Sett them at Candlemass, and entreat them to grow.' " — Id. p. 105. 

[Cfr. Bohn's Handbook, p. 38.] 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 243 

" Somerset proverb:^ 

' If yon will haye a good cheese, and hay'n old, 
Yon mnst tnm'n seven times before he is cold.' " — Id. 

[Bobn, p. 29.] 

'' The North for largeness, the East for health, 
The Sonth for buildings, the West for wealth." 

Boyal Sac. MS. fol. 24. 

" Not far from this place [the Globe Theatre] were the Asparagus 
Gardens, and Pimblico-Path, where were fine walks, cool arbours, &c. 
mnch used by the citizens of London and their families, and both 
mentioned by the comedians at the beginning of 1600. To walk in 
Pimhlico became proverbial for a man handsomely drest; as these 
walks were frequented by none else."^iVa^ Hist. Surrey ^ y. 221. 

Kit of the Candlestick, — " Ignis fatuus, called by the vulgar Kit of 
the Candlestick, is not very rare on our downes about Michaelmas." — 
^at. Hist. Wilts, p. 17. 

Mr. Thoms's chapter on "Puck as Will^'-the-Wisp" (TAree Notelets 
on Shakespeare, pp. 59-72) may be referred to here ; the name " Kit- 
with-the- Candlestick " will be found in the footnote to p. 80 of the same 
volume. 

Healing Springs, — " In the parish of Lydyard-Tregoz is a well, 
called by the country people Antedocks Well (perhaps here was the 
cell of some anchorete or hermite), the water whereof, they say, was 
famous heretofore in the old time for working miracles and curing 
many diseases." — Id. p. 23. 

"In Lancarim [Glamorganshire] is a medicated spring, much 
frequented from several counties, time out of mind, for the King's 
Evil. There is a nil of about an ell broad between the two collines, 
covered with wood ; about twelve yards from this spring the rill falls 
from a rock eight or nine foot bigh, which makes a grateful noise ; the 
spring (which is exceeding clear) comes out of a pure white marie, I 
thought there had been no white marie in Wales, for the earth is red. 
Above this spring (about a yard broad and deep) spreads an old oak with 
hoary moss, on the boughs whereof two cratches. A graduate doctor 
hereabout imputes the vertue of this spring to the limestone, and says 
one of the chief ingredients of the doctors for the King's Evil is lime- 



244 REMAINS OF GBl^TILISME. 

water." — Letter from Aubrey to Sir J. Hoskjns, published in Philo- 
sophical Transactions, xix. 727 (Oct. 1697). 

Springs a Sign of Dearth, — " At Funthill Episcopi, higher towards 
Hindon, water riseth and makes a streame before a dearth of corne, 
that is to saj, without raine, and is commonly look't upon by the 
neighbourhood as a certain presage of a dearth ; as, for example, the 
deamess of come in 1678. So at Morecombe Bottome, in the parish 
of Broad Chalke, on the north side of the riyer, it has been observed 
time out of mind that when the water breaketh out there, that it 
foreshewes a deare yeare of come, and I remember it did so in the 
yeare 1648. Plinie saieth (lib. ii. Nat. Hist,) that the breaking forth 
of some rivers annoncs mutationem signijicat^ — Nat, Hist, Wilts^ pp. 
32, 33. 

"Mr. Tho. Ax tells me that somewhere in Wiltshire, between 
Ingepen and Andover, there breaketh out a rivulet against a dearth." — 
Royal Soc. MS. fol. 69. 

Gilbert White of Selbome writes of a similar belief in Hampshire, 
He says : — " The land-springs, which we call levants, break out much 
on the downs of Sussex, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. The country- 
people pay, when the levants rise com will always be dear ; meaning 
that when the earth is so glutted with water as to send forth springs 
on the downs and uplands, that the com vales must be drowned. 
And so it has proved for these ten or eleven years past " (Letter xix. 
to Daines Barrington, Feb. 14, 1774). The Rev. W. T. Bree, 
writing in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History for 1829 (ii. 297), 
speaks of a " com spring " in the parish of Allesley, Warwickshire, 
which was known as "the Dudley's [Dadley's] spring,'* and ''has 
long been held in estimation among the lower orders for foretelling, 
as they believe, the dearness of com ; and many old people, I am 
told, have been in the habit of watching its operations and placing 
much faith in them.'* He mentions another spring of a similar kind 
at Atherstone in the same county. Another correspondent of the 
same magazine (ii. 408) says that this is similar to springs " called, 
in Kent, nailhoumes, one of which joins the Little Stour at Bishops- 
boume." Hasted, in his History of Kent (folio ed. iii. 333), says, 
" Their time of breaking forth and continuance is very uncertain; but 
they are held, by the common people, to be the forerunners of scarcity 
of com." See nailhum in Halliweirs Dictionary, and nail-bourne in 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBRBY'S WORKS. 245 

Pegge's Alphabet of Kenticisms {Eng. Dial, Soc. series C. iii. iii.) 
In Kennett's MS. Glossary (Lansdowne MS. 1033), under " Nail- 
boms," we read, " The encrease and swell [of] some rivulets in Kent, 
especially the Bourne, which issues at Lyminge, are there call'd 
nailbomSy as in Yorksh. they are term'd gipsies." Under the word 
" Gipseys," Kennett assigns the word to the East Biding, and says 
they are "mentioned by Guil. Neubrigen, cap. 28, by the name of 
vipse^ 

Spring giving Warning of Political Changes, — "In a grove of ew- 
trees, within the manour of Westhall, in the parish of Warlingham, 
as I have frequently heard, rises a spring upon the approach of 
some remarkable alteration in church or state, which runs in a direct 
course between Lille Hills to a place call'd Foxley-Hatch, and there 
disappears, and is no more visible till it rises again at the end of 
Croydon town, near Haling- pound, where with great rapidity it rushes 

into the river near that church It began to run a little 

before Christmas, and ceas'd about the end of May, at that most 
glorious aera of English liberty the year 1660. In 1665 it preceded 
the Plague in London and the Bevolution in 1688.*'— i\ra^ Hist, and 
Antiq. of Surrey/, iii. 47-8. 

St. Thomas Becket's Path. — " In the common field of Winterboum 
.... is the celebrated path called St. Thomas Becket's path. It 
leads from the village up to Clarendon Parke. Whether this field be 
sown or lies fallow, the path is visible to one that lookes on it from the 
hill, and it is wonderfiill. But I can add yet farther the testimonies 
of two that I very well know (one of them my servant, and of an 
excellent sight) that will attest that, riding in the rode from London 
one morning in a great snow, they did see this path visible on the 
snow. St. Thomas Becket, they say, was sometime a cure priest at 
Winterboum, and did use to goe along this path up to a chapell in 
Clarendon Parke to say masse, and very likely 'tis true ; but I have a 
conceit that this path is caused by a warme subterraneous steame from 
a long crack in the earth, which may cause snow to dissolve sooner 
there than elsewhere ; and consequently gives the dissolving snow a 
darker colour, just as wee see the difference of whites in damask 
linnen." — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 37. 

" 'Ti» affinaed that between this place [Sutton] and Thorpe is to 

S 



246 RKMAIKS OF QENTILISME. 

be seen a path in the corn, like Bt. Thomas Becket's path." — Nat 
Hist, and ArUiq. of Surreif, iii. 280. 

Spontaneous (j«n«raftbiu— '* Edmnnd Wjld, Esq. RS.S. hath had a 
pott of composition in his garden these seyen yeares that beares 
nothing at all, not so mnch as grasse or mosse. He makes his 
challenge, if any man will give him xx^ he will giye him an hundred 
if it doth not beare wheate spontaneously, and the party shall keep 
the key, and he shall sift the earth composition through a fine sieve, 
so that he may be sure there are no graines of wheat in it. He hath 
also a composition for pease, but that he will not warrant, not haying 
yet tryed it:'— Nat. Hist. WiUs, p. 88. 

Coal and Holly. — " As yet we haye not discovered any coale in 
this country, but are supplied with it from Glocestershire adjoining, 
where the forest of Kingswood (near Bristowe) aboundeth most with 
coale of any place in the West of England ; all that tract under ground 
full of this fossill. It is very observable that here are the most holly 
trees of any place in the West. It seemes to me that the holly tree 
delights in the effluvium of this fossill, which may serve as a guide 
to find it. I was curious to be satisfied whether holly trees were also 
conmion about the collieries at Newcastle, and Dr. . . . Deane of 
Durham, affirmes they are." — Id. p. 41. 

'^ Holly is indifferently conmion in Malmesbury hundred, and also on 
the borders of the New Forest ; it seems to indicate pitt-coale.** — Id 
p. 55. 

Pebbles: the Wammg-stone, — ^^ The millers in our country use to putt 
a black pebble under the pinne of y® axis of the mill-wheele, to keep 
the brasse underneath from wearing ; and they doe find by experience 
that nothing doth weare so long as that. The bakers take a certain 
pebble, which they putt in the vaulture of their oven, which they call 
the warning-stone ; for when that is white the oven is hot." — Nat, 
Hist. Wilts, p. 43. 

Strawberries sometimes Injurious — " Strawberries have a most 
delicious taste, and are so innocent that a woman in childbed, or one 
in a feaver, may safely eate them; but I have heard Sir Christopher 
Wren affirm that if one that has a wound in his head eates them they 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY's WORKS. 247 

are mortall. Methinks 'tis very strange. Qusere the learned of this? " 
— Id. p. 60. This is also mentioned by Aubrey in a letter to Ray, 
Aug. 5, 1691. See Correspondence of Ray (Ray Soc), p. 238. 

Trees Groaning when Felled, — " When an oake is felling, before it 
falles it gives a kind of shriekes or groanes, that may be heard a 
mile off, as if it were the genius of the oake lamenting, E. Wyld, 
Esq. hath heard it severall times. This gave the occasion of that 
expression in Ovid's Metam.orph, lib. viii. fab. ii. about Erisichthon's 
felling of the oake sacred to Ceres: — 

* Gemitumq' dedit decidua quercns.' "— ^a^. Hist, WlltSf p. 53. 

In the Nat Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey (ii. .34) this belief is 
referred to at greater length, and Aubrey adds : — " It has not 
unusually been observed that to cut oak-wood is unfortunate." 

Preservative against Witches. — " Whitty-tree or wayfaring tree is 
rare in this country ; some few in Cranboum Chace, and three or four 
on the south downe of the farme of Broad Chalke. In Herefordshire 
they are not uncommon ; and they used, when I was a boy, to make 
pinnes for the yoakes of their oxen of them, believing it had vertue 
to preserve them from being forespoken, as they call it; and they 
use to plant one by their dwelling-house, believing it to preserve 
from witches and evill eyes." — Id. pp. 56-7. 

The rowan tree, or mountain ash (jPyrus Aucuparia), the power of 
which against witches is well known (see Henderson's Folk-Lore of the 
Northern Counties, ed. ii. pp. 224-226), is here intended, although the 
name wayfaring tree is usually applied to Viburnum Opulus. This 
latter is however referred to by Aubrey (loc. dt,) under the name 
coven-tree. Halliwell gives Whitty tree as a western name for the 
mountain ash. 

Local Rhyme. — " Pewsham Forest was given to the Duke of 

Buckingham, who gave it, I thinke, to his brother, the Earle of 

Anglesey. Upon the disafforesting of it the poor people made this 

rhythme :— 

* When Chipnam stood in Pewsham's wood, 
Before it was destroyed, 
A cow might have gone for a groat a yeare, 
But now it is denyed.' 

s2 



248 BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

" The metre is lamentable, but the cry of the poor was more lament- 
able. I knew severall that did remember the going of a cowe for 
4d, per annum. The order was, how many they could winter they 
might summer ; the pigges did cost nothing the going. Now the 
highwayes are encombred with cottages, and the trayellers with the 
beggars that dwell in them." — Id, p. 58. 

Local 5aytii^.— " At Auburn is our famous coney-warren, and the 
conies there are the best, sweetest, and fattest of any in England ; a 
short, thick coney, and exceeding fatt. The grasse there is yery short, 
and burnt up in the hot weather. 'Tis a saying that conies doe love 
rost meat.*' — Id. p. 59. 

A Cowstealer's Trich — " Some cowstealers will make a hole in a 
hott lofe newly drawn out of the oven, and putt it on an oxe's horn 
for a convenient time, and then they can turn their softned homes 
the contrary way, so that the owner cannot swear to his own beast. 
Not long before the King's restauration a fellow was hanged at Tyburn 
for this, and say^d that he had never come thither if he had not heard 
it spoke of in a sermon. Thought he, I will try this trick." — Id. 
p. 61. 

" In Lancashire they make the homes of their cattle grow, and 
shape them, by anointing them once in a moneth or six weekes with 
goosegrease."— i?o^aZ Soc. MS. fol. 155. 

Power of Moonwort. — ** Sir Bennet Hoskins, Baronet, told me that 
his keeper at his parke at Morehampton, in Herefordshire, did, for 
experiment sake, drive an iron naile thwert the hole of the wood- 
pecker's nest, there being a tradition that the damme will bring some 
leafe to open it. He layed at the bottome of the tree a cleane sheet, 
and before many hoiires passed the naile came out, and he found a 
leafe lying by it on the sheete. Quasre the shape or figure of the leafe. 
They say the moonewort will doe such things. This experiment may 
easily be tryed again. As Sir Walter Kaleigh saies, there are stranger 
things to be seen in the world than are between London and Stanes." 
—Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 64. 

Kegarding this statement Kay observes, " The story concerning 
the drawing out the nail driven crosse the woodpecker's hole is without 
doubt a fable " (p. 8). The belief is one of considerable antiquity, for 



v^-xi— >««l^=^aE^a«^.^«;,^«B«i|iB 



FOLK-LOBE FROM AUBREY'S WOBKS. 249 

we find it in Vlinj (Nat Hist lib. x. 20). It exists still in Normandy 
and Central France. See Holland's invaluable Faune Populaire de la 
Francey ii. 62 (1879). The traditional power of tbe moonwort 
(Botrychium Lunaria) over iron is well known. Culpeper (ed. 1653) 
says, " Moonwort is an herb which they say wil open locks, and unshoo 
such horses as tread upon it ; this some laugh to scorn, and those no 
smal fools neither; but country people that I know, cal it Unshoo the 
Horse; besides I have heard commanders say, that on White Down 
in Devon- shire near Tiverton, there was found thirty hors-shoos, 
pulled off from the feet of the Earl of Essex his horses being there 
drawn up in a body, many of them being but newly shod, and no reason 
known, which caused much admiration ; and the herb described usually 
grows upon heaths." Coles {Adam in Eden) says, " It is said, yea, 
and believed by many, that moonwort will open the locks wherewith 
dwelling-houses are made fast, if it be put into the key-hole." 

Birds not Breeding before a Pestilence, — " 'Tis certain that the 
rookes of the Inner Temple did not build their nests in the garden 
to breed in the spring before the plague, 1665; but in the spring 
following they did." — Id, 

Lizards and Newts thought Poisonous, — " In Sir James Long's parke 
at Draycot-Cerne are grey lizards ; and no question in other places if 
they were look't after ; but people take them for newts. They are of 
that family. About anno 1686 a boy lyeing asleep in a garden felt 
something dart down his throat, which killed him : 'tis probable 'twas 
a little newt. They are exceeding nimble ; they call them swifts at 
Newmarket Heath. When I was a boy a young fellow slept on the 
grasse; after he awak't, happening to put his hand in his pocket, 
something bitt him by the top of his finger : he shak't it suddenly 
off so that he could not perfectly disceme it. The biteing was so 
venomous that it overcame all help, and he died in a few hours : — 
* Virus edax snperabat opem: penitnsq' receptnm 
Ossibns, et toto corpore pestis erat.' " — Ovid, FaHi. 

Id, p. 66. 
The Kev. J. G. Wood says that within his knowledge the newt 
was considered poisonous in Wiltshire, and specifies one or two cases 
in which this was supposed to have been proved. See his Illustrated 
Natural History {Reptiles), p. 181. A similar idea is entertained in 
Staffordshire ; see Science Oossip for 1869, p. 129. 



250 RBM AINS OF OENTILISHE. 

Toad found in an Ash Tree. — ^** Toades are plentifull in North 
Wiltshire, but few in the chalkie countrejs. In sawing of an ash two 
foot square, of Mr. Saintlowe's, at Knighton in Ghalke parish, was 
found a live toade about 1656 ; the sawe cutt him asunder, and the 
bloud coome on the nnder-sawyer*s hand ; he thought at first the 
upper sawyer had cutt his hand. Toades are oftentimes found in 
the millstones of Darbyshire.''— -/J. 

Bite of a Man Poisonous. — «* Mdm. Dr. W. Harvey told me that 
the biteing of a man enraged is poysonous. He instanced one that 
was bitt in the hand in a quarrell, and it swoU up to his shoulder, and 
killed him in a short time. (That death, from nervous irritation, 
might follow such a wound is not improbable ; but that it was caused 
by any ' poison * infused into the system is an idea too absurd for 
refutation.— J. B.)."— /rf. p. 72. 



Maydew Beneficial. — ^*^ Maydewe is a very great dissolvent of many 
things with the sunne that will not be dissolved any other way : which 
putts me in mind of the rationality of the method used by Wm. Gore, 
of Clapton, Esq., for his gout, which was to walke in the dewe with his 
shoes pounced ; he found benefit by it. I told Mr. Wm. Mullens, of 
Shoe Lane, Chirurgion, this story, and he sayd this was the very 
method and way of curing that was used in Oliver Cromwell, Protec- 
tour.*' — Id, p. 73. 

The Eicketts. — ^* Mr. M. Montjoy, of Bitteston, hath an admirable 
secret for the cure of the ricketts, for which he was sent to far and 
neer ; his sonne hath the same. Eickettie children (they say) are 
long before they breed teeth, I will, whilst *tis in my mind, insert 
this remarque, viz. about 1620, one Ricketts of Newbery, perhaps 
corruptly from Kicards, a practitioner in physick, was excellent at the 
curing children with swoln heads and small legges, and, the disease 
being new and without a name, he being so famous for the cure of it, 
they called the disease the ricketts, as the King's evill from the King's 
curing of it with his touch ; and now 'tis good sport to see how they 
vex their lexicons, and fetch it from the Greek v&xii: the back bone," — 
Id. p. 74. 

This seems to throw some light upon the etymology of the word, 
which has been discussed at some length in Notes and Queries, 
6th series, i. 209, 318, 362, 482. 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY 's WORKS. 251 

Legend regarding the Site of Salisbury Cathedral, — " The follow- 
ing account 1 had from the right reverend, learned, and indus- 
trious Seth Ward, Lord Bishop of Sarum, who had taken the paines 
to peruse all the old records of the church that had been clung 
together and untoucht for perhaps two hundred yeares. Within 
this castle of Old Sarum, on the east side, stood the cathedral 
church ; the tuft and scite is yet discemable : which being seated so 
high was so obnoxious to the weather that when the wind did blow 
they could not heare the priest say masse. But this was not the only 
inconvenience. The soldiers of the castle and the priests could never 
agree ; and one day, when they were gone without the castle in pro- 
cession, the soldiers kept them out all night, or longer. Whereupon 
the bishop, being much troubled, cheered them up as well as he 
could, and told them he would study to accommodate them better. 
In order thereunto he rode severall times to the lady abbesse at 
Wilton to have bought or exchanged a piece of ground of her lady- 
ship to build a church and houses for the priests. A poor woman at 
Quidhampton, that was spinning in the street, sayd to one of her 
neighbours : ^ I marvell what the matter is that the bishop makes so 
many visits to my lady ; I trow he intends to marry her.' Well, the 
bishop and her ladyship did not conclude about the land, and the 
bishop dreamt that the Virgin Mary came to him, and brought him 
to or told him of Merrifield ; she would have him build his church 
there and dedicate it to her. Merrifield was a great field or meadow 
where the city of New Sarum stands, and did belong to the bishop, 
as now the whole city belongs to him. This was about the latter of 
King John's reigne, and the first grant or diploma that ever King 
Henry the Third signed was that for the building of our Lady's 
Church at Salisbury." — Id. pp. 96-7. 

Tradition regarding the Pillars in Salisbury Cathedral, — " 'Tis 
strange to see how errour hath crept in upon the people, who believe 
that the pillars of this church [Salisbury Cathedral] were cast, for- 
sooth, as chandlers make candles ; and the like is reported of the 
pillars of the Temple Church, London, &c. ; and not onely the vulgar 
swallow down the tradition gleb, but severall learned and otherwise 
understanding persons will not be perswaded to the contrary, and that 
the art is lost. (Among the rest. Fuller, in his Worthies of England^ 
gave currency to this absurd opinion. — J. B.) Nay, all the bishops 



252 REMAINS OF OEKTILISME. 

and chnrclimen of that chnrcb in my remembrance did belieye it, till 
Bishop Ward came, who wonld not be so imposed on ; and the like 
errour mnnes from generation to generation concerning Stoneheng, 
that the stones there are artificial.*'— Pp. 97-8. 

Knockings. — ^* In the time of King Charles II. the dramming at the 
house of Mr. Mompesson, of Tydworth, made a great talke over England, 
of which Mr. Joseph Glanvil, rector of Bath, hath largely writt, to which 
I refer the reader. But as he was an ini^enious person, so I suspect he 
was a little too credulous ; for Sir Ralph Bankes and Mr. Anthony 
Ettrick lay there together one night out of curiosity, to be satisfied. 
They did heare sometimes knockings ; and if they said, ' Devill, knock 
so many knocks,' so many knocks would be answered. But Mr. 
Ettrick sometimes whispered the words, and there was then no returns ; 
but he should have spoke in Latin or French for the detection of this. 
Another time Sir Christopher Wren lay there. He could see no 
strange things, but sometimes he should heare a drumming, as one 
may drum vdth one's hand upon a wainscot; but he observed that this 
drumming was only when a certain maid servant was in the next room ; 
the partitions of the rooms are by borden-brasse as wee call it. But 
all these remarked that the devill kept no very unseasonable houres ; 
it seldome knock't after 12 at night or before 6 in the morning." 
(In Hoare's Modem Wiltshire (Hundred of Amesbury), p. 92, is a 
narrative, quoted from Glanvil, of the nocturnal disturbances in the 
house of Mr. Mompesson, at North Tidworth, Wilts, in the year 1661, 
which excited considerable interest at the time, and led to the publica- 
tion of several pamphlets on the subject. The book by Mr. Glanvil, 
referred to by Aubrey, is called * A Blow at Modern Sadducism ; or. 
Philosophical Considerations touching the being of Witches and Witch- 
craft ; with an Account of the Demon of Tedworth,' Lond. 1666, 4to. 
There are other editions in folio and 8vo, in 1667 and 1668. Addison 
founded his comedy of * The Drummer ; or, the Haunted House,' on 
this occurrence. — J. B.) — Id. p. 121. 

See Miscellanies y pp. 117-8, for further instances of knockings. A 
fourth edition of Glanvil's book, Sadducismus Triumphans, appeared 
in 1726. 

Apparitions, — ^''At Salisbury a phantome appeared to Dr. Turbervill's 
sister severall times, and it discovered to her a writing or deed of 
settlement that was hid behind the wainscot. Though I myselfe 



rOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY's WORKS. 253 

never saw any sucH things, yet I will not conclude that there is 
no truth at all in these reports. I believe that extraordinarily there 
have been such apparitions; but where one is true a hundred are 
figments. There is a lecherie in lyeing and imposeing on the cre- 
dulous ; and the imagination of fearfull people is to admiration : 
e,g, not long after the cave at Bathford was discovered (where the 
opus tessellatum was found), one of Mr. Skreen's ploughboyes lyeing 
asleep near the mouth of the cave, a gentleman in a boate on the river 
Avon, which runnes hard by, played on his flajolet. The boy appre- 
hended the musique to be in the cave, and ran away in a lamentable 
fright, and his fearfull phancy made him believe he saw spirits in the 
cave. This Mr. Skreen told me, and that the neighbourhood are so 
confident of the truth of this that there is no undeceiving of them.'* — 
Id. p. 122. 

There is a long chapter upon apparitions in Miscellaniea^ pp. 
70-105, containing one or two very circumstantial narrations; the 
instances given above, however, are not there included. 

Oraveyard Superstition, — "The grave-digger here [Woking] told me 
that he had a rule from his father, to know when not to dig a grave upon 
a corpse not rotted ; which was, when he found a certain plant about the 
bigness of the middle of a tobacco-pipe, which came near the surface of 
the earth, but never appeared above it. It is very tough, and about a 
yard long ; the rind of it is almost black, and tender, so that, when you 
pluck it, it slips off, and underneath is red ; it hath a small button at 
top, not much unlike the top of an asparagus : of these sometimes he 
finds two or three in a grave. He is sure it is not a fern root. He 
hath with diligence traced it to its root, and finds it to spring from the 
putrefaction of the dead body. The soil here is a fine red or yellowish 
red sand ; so that the cippus of the grave is by the wind and the 
playing of the boys quickly equaPd with the other ground : and to 
avoid digging upon a fresh corps, as aforesaid, had this caution from 
his father. In Send churchyard, about a mile or two hence, and in 
such a soil, he told me, the like plant is found ; but for other church- 
yards he can say nothing. He said that coffins rot in six years 
in the churchyard in the church in eighteen years. This place 
[plant] did put me in mind of the /LtoXt mentioned by Homer ; but 
that, Homer says, puts forth a little white flower a little above the 
earth." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey ^ iii. 225-6. 



254 BSMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

From the description of the plant there is little doubt bat that the 
fertile form of some Horsetail {Equisetumf probably E. arvense) is 
intended. The resemblance of these to asparagus did not escape the 
notice of the older herbalists ; see ' Fox-tailed Asparagus/ in Diet. 
English Plant-names, p. 192. 

A Causeway made hy the Devil.^^^^ Staen-street Causeway is ten yards 
broad, but in most places seven ; two miles and a half or three miles 
long. It runs from Belingsgate to Belinghurst in Sussex, and so to 
Arundel. It goes through Dorking churchyard, which they find by 

<iigS^Qg o^ ^he graves It is made of flints and pebbles ; but 

there are no other flints nearer than seven miles, and the pebbles are 
such as are at the beaches in Sussex, from whence the common people 
say they were brought, and that it was made by the devil.*' — Nat. 
Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iv. 187. 

Building on Consecrated Ground unlucky. ^^^^ In [Newdigate] church- 
3 ard stood a chapel dedicated to St. Margaret, which was puU'd down 
by one of the family of the Newdigates to give place to the building of 
a farm-house; and the tradition runs that this family soon after began 
to decay."— /e?. iv. 262. 

Insect indicating presence of Saltpetre.'^*' 1 remember the saltpetre 
men told me heretofore, that in ground abounding with saltpetre they 
find a little yellow insect, as yellow as gold, which is a good indication 
to them for saltpetre." — Aubrey to Ray, Dec. 15, 1692, Correspondence 
of Ray (Ray Soc), p. 257. See also p. 238. 

Popular Remedies (i.) connected with Plants. — ^' King James 11. 

sent, by Sir Garden, to the Royal Society a plant called Star of 

the Earth, with the receipt made of it to cure the biting of mad 
dogs, which is in {^Philosophical] Transact. No. 187. By the salt-pits 
at Lymington, Hampshire, grows a plant called Squatmore, of wonder- 
ful effect for bruises, not in any herbal. This I had from Th. Guidott, 
M.D., whose father had the saltworks and is a witness of the cures 
done by it. My old friend Mr. Fr. Potter (author of the Interpretation 
666), told me that a neighbour of his who had the gout many years, 
an ancient man, was cured by an old woman with the leaf of the wild 
vine. I came there above a year after and the party had never a 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY's WORKS. 255 

touch of it. E. W[yld], Esq., tells me of a woman in Bedfordshire 
who doth great cures for agues and fevers with meadsweet, to which 
she adds some green wheat. A Parliament captain (in Ireland) told 
me, when the army was sorely afflicted with the bloody flux, and past 
the skill of doctors, they had a receipt from an Irishman, viz. to take 
the partition pith of a walnut and dry it, then to pulverize it, and 
drink as much as could be heaped on a 4d. or 6d, in wine, or &c., and 
this cured the army." — Aubrey to Ray, Aug. 5, 1691, Correspondence 
of Ray (Ray Soc), p. 238. 

The plant called Star of the Earth is, in PhU, Traris, no. 187, 
identified with Silene Otites ; but this was an error, as was sub- 
sequently shown at length by Thomas Steward, in JPhil. Trans, xl. 
(no. 451), pp. 449-462, the plant intended being the Buck's-hom 
Plantain (^Plantago Coronopus), Squatmore is the Homed Poppy 
(^Glaucium ItUeum). Aubrey has a similar notice of it in Royal Soc, 
MS. fol. 127, where he explains the name thus: — "In our western 
languages, squat is a bruise, and a roote we call a more^^ : there is a 
curious account of its properties in Phil. Trans, xx. (no, 242), p. 263. 
Wild vine is the White Bryony (Bryonia alba) ; Meadsweet, the Meadow- 
sweet (Spircea Ulmaria). 

(ii. For Cancer.) " In the holes made by the feet of cattle in this 
forest of Bradon the standing water lookes of the colour of burnt 
copper or (to use a more known comparison) of changeable taffata, 
which brings to my memory that about 1642 a lady of the west, being 
extremely ill of a cancer in her breast, and receiving no benefit from 
the country, as she was carrying into her litter at the inne at Hartley 
rowe, a poor woman was begging an almes of her. She pray'd God 
to bless her, and asked what ailed her. The lady slighted her question, 
but the poor woman was still importunate and sayd that perhaps 
she might doe her good. The lady told her she had a cancer in her 
breast. Sayd the woman, * That I can and have cured. Goe to some 
heaths or places where bogges are, and where you see in the prints of 
the feet of cattle or the like water stand with a thin cleame of a 
changeable taffata colour, thrust downe a staff, and there will stick to 
it some mud; repeat it severall times till you have gott as much as will 
make an emplaster, which apply to your breast.' The lady made use 
of it, and was cured." — Royal Soc. MS. fols. 56, 57. 

(iii. For Jaundice.) " Tenches (Tinea) are common. Take tenches 
and slitt them in two, and put them to the soules of the feet and region 



256 BKKAINS OF GEKTILI8ME. 

of the heart ; it is an approved receipt for the yellow jaundise. 
Tenches will, after application, stinke in an hower ; let them lye on 
twelve houres, and then put on fresh ones ; a matter of five applica- 
tions will doe the care, if not too late. Mdm. When the tenches are 
taken off they must be buried in the earth ; they take out the back 
bone, but apply the entrailes ; the head is cutt off, because it will be 
uneasy to the patient.*'— ^oya/ Soc, MS. fol. 157. 

(iv. Loaches.) '^ Loches are in the upper Avon, at Amesbury, 
where they use to drinke them alive in sack ; they say 'tis wholesome ; 
I believe 'tis but a piece of wantonesse, but this is an ancient custom." 
Boyal Soc. MS. fol. 168. 

(v. For the Plague.) '' Calcinatio bufonum. B. Twenty great 
fatt toades (in May they are best), putt them alive in a pipkin, cover 
it, make ignem rotce to the top ; let them stay on the fire till they make 
no noise, then they will begin to smoake (the smoake is very dan- 
gerous) ; then cover it all over with coales ; lett them bum till they 
smoake no more; then let all coole in the pipkin; you will find all cal- 
cined white with black bones, which beat fine in a mortar, and it will 
bee a black powder. Take halfe the black calcination and put it in a 
crucible or small pipkin, cover it with a tile, plant it in a melting fur- 
nace, make ignem rotce to the top ; and, as the pulvis begins to glow, 
stir it now and then with a iron spatula; let it calcine so long till you 
perceive blow fumes to arise like ^; then take out a little with a 
spatula, if white 'tis enough ; then take out the crucible, let it cool, 
beat it very fine in a stone mortar, keep it in a glass for use, 'tis a 
special remedie for the plague ; dose is 51 3 mornings together. Dr. 
Thom. Willis mentions this powder in his Tractat. de febribuSy and 
that he had the receipt k quodam Aulico, which was Sr Robert Long. 
Also good to pestilentiall feavers and the small pox." — Eo^al Soc. MS, 
fol. 167. 

(vii. For the Oowte.) " Take snailes out of their shells and pound 
them, and make a plaister of them, which apply to the place grieved. 
The Morocco Ambassador came to see Mr. Ashmole's rarities when 
Mr. Ashmole was ill of the gout. The Ambassador then told this 
medicine, which they much used in Africa." — Ecyal Soc. MS. fol. 1 68. 

(viii. For an Ague or an Hectick Fever.) " R. The morning urine 
of the sick party before it is cold, and boyle an egge in it till it lookes 
blew ; put it into a pasture emot*s hill, and in a few dayes, as the egge 
wastes, the party will recover. You must prick the shell indifferently 



FOLK-LOBE FBOM AUBBET'S WOBES. 257 

« 

full of holes \vith a bodkin, that emots may get in, and it must be putt 
to the bottom of the emot hill, that it takes no aire. The receipt I 
had from Captain Hamden, who hath tryed it severall times with good 
successe. The medicine is in Grollius, and Mr. Robert Boyle quotes 
ity—JRoifal Soc. MS. fol. 168. 

(ix. For a Bruise,) **A plaster of honey effectually helpeth a 
biniise. From Mr. Francis Potter, B.D. of Kilmanton. It seemes to 
bee a very rational medicine; for honey is the extraction of the 
choicest medicinal flowers."— i?oya2 Soc, MS. fol. 169. 

Weather Prognostics. — " The watermen of the Thames foretell 
change of weather when it freezeth by the cruddling of the clowdes 
like sand, and the sweating of the stones. The shepherds in Spaine 
will foretell raine a fortnight before it comes. Mists are there very 
often, and they are thicker than in England. The custome there is, 
before they goe a hawking, to send to the shepherd to know at what 
o'clock the mists will break up, which they will tell to an hower. 
When my Lord Cottington was ambassadour there, he used this method, 
of which I was enformed by Rowland Plattes, Esq., who was then 
gentleman of his horse, and Sir Robert Southwell affirmes the same. 
It is generally observed by us, that when the springs doe breake out, 
and the water riseth high in wells, to be a certain sign of dry weather, 
and vice versa, that when the springs in wells doe shrink, 'tis a certain 
signe of wet weather." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 32. 

" 'Tis observed that when the sea-mews do return to Colern down, 
from the sea, 'tis signe of a storme : the watermen say, that the sea- 
mews against fowle weather will gater together at the sea and make a 
noise and away to land according as Virgil speakes [Georg. lib. i.) :— 

* Jam sibi tnm cnrvis male temperat nnda cavinis, 
Cam media celeres revolant ex aequore mergi, 
Clamoremq. ferant ad llttora ; cumq. marinas 
In sicco ludnnt fnlicae.' 

" At Fausby (neer Daintre) in Northamptonshire a raven did build 
her nest on the leads between the tower and the steeple. By the placing 
of her nest towards a certain point of the compas the inhabitants did 
make their prognostiq as to the dearness or cheapnesse of come ; when 

she build on the north side it was a and when it was on the 

south side the oldest peoples grandfathers here, did never 

remember, but that this raven yearly made her nest here, and in the 



258 REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 

late civil warres the soldiers killed her. I am sorry for the tragical 
end of this old church bird, that lived in so many changes of govemmt. 
and religion, waies of worship in the church. But our shepherds and 
ploughmen doe make as usefuU considerable observations of a mouse- 
hole of a fieldmouse : which way it points ; sc. if it points eastward it 
is a signe of a wett winter, for here the wett comes from the west for 
the most part/'— J?o^a/ Soc. MS. fols. 83-4. 

*' When the magpie builds high, 'tis a signe of a wett sommer."— > 
Id. fol. 84. 

'* I remember that Mr. Thomas Hobbes told me that at Naples it is 
observed that a small clowd as big as one's fist doeth presage thunder 
and lightning, then thej ring their bells, which they believe havQ 
power to drive it away." — Roi/al Soc, MS. fol. 87, 

*^ The niall (or woodpecker) was much esteemed by the Druides for 

divination ; see concerning this in Ponticus Ftcunntua, p To this 

day the country-people doe divine of raine by their cry : clank, clank, 
clank, which noise of theirs is a signe of raine." — Boyal Soc. MS. fol. 1 6 1 . 

This belief is still general about the green woodpecker {Picas viridis), 
which is called " rain-bird " in the north of England, and " rain-pie" 
in Somersetshire. M. Rolland {Faune Populaire de la FrdncCy ii. 60-2) 
cites many equivalent French names, and says that the same belief is 
general; and Mr. Swainson ( Weather FolklorCj p. 248) gives a Venetian 
proverb to the same effect. 

The Spanish ^i^.— "In Spain they have an art to make ^gges poy- 
sonous by planting certain poysonous plants at the roote of the tree ; 
hence comes the proverbo of the Spanish Figge. The way of doeing 
it is in a printed booke which E. W[yld], Esq., hath."— jBo^aZ Soc. 
MS. fol. 20. 

The Dwy or Twy, a Meteor, -^^^ In the year 1659, on Saturday after- 
noon, as Mr. George Crake and Mr. Whorwood were passing over from 
Southampton to the Isle of Wight, a conglomerated substance in the 
aire easily observed, and resembling in some measure a chain-shot, 
was first taken notice of by a thatcher, who was at worke on a house 
near the seaside, and seeing the boat where those two gentlemen, their 
men and horses, with two boatmen were, said to the man that serv'd 
him, * That Dwy ' (for so this meteor is vulgarly called) ' will en- 
danger that boat,' pointing towards it. And in very short time after, 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 259 

he saw the men in the boat labouring to lower saile, and lay all flatt, 
who not being able to effect their designe, the Dwy presently overset 
the boat, and all were drowned. A few dayes after, being at my 
father's hoose at Lymington, at dinner, a master of a ship that was 
then in Cows-road dined with us, and was telling us news, that some 
dead bodies arose lately by his vessel's side, which I presently suspected 
to be the gentlemen mentioned, whom I left well, and found it true. 
Doctor Walter Pope, then Fellow of Wadham College, Oxon, Mr. John 
Smart, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxon, and Mr. Cripps, Fellow of 
Merton College, were then with me, and had gon with Mr. Crake and 
Mr. Whorwood had not my invitation prevailed with 'em. The nature 
of this Twy is such that if it meet with opposition it destroyes all, but 
to anything that yields it does no hurt ; of a very swift motion, and 
certain mischiefe where it falls, and very usuall there, if not peculiar 
to the place." — Royal Soc, MS. fol. 35. 

''During a tempest at Lough ton, in Cheshire (near Staffordshire), 
about 1649, which happened on a Sunday in the time of divine service, 
a purplish nubecula came into the church and there brake like Aurum 
Fulminans, and did kill and hurt many, with spotts and holes ; the 
more they tampered with medicines the worse they were, till they 
happened to apply milke, and that only did give them ease and cure. 
I have seen a pamphlet that gives an account of the like accident, 
which happened at Teverton in Devonshire; 'twas between 1630 and 
1640. Mr. Hook has it:' -^Royal Soc. MS. fol. 87. 

Timber folk-lore, — " It is observed by the timber-buyers in London, 
that when they fell their timber, sc* oakes, that if the wind happens 
to change to the east, they doe stay their felling of them ; for then the 
barke will not runne, as they terme it. From Mr. £dm. Wyld, Esq., 
and Mr. Abbas, a timber merchant." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 132. 

Lapwings laying in an easterly position, — ^^ 1 have heard it affirmed 
that lapwings doe lay their eggs on the east side of a hill, and lett the 
sun hatch them ; and that one has taken of the egges, and layd them 
in an east window and they were hatched, sed quaere de hoc." — Royal 
Soc. MS. fol. 161. 

Seven children at a birth. — After referring to the occurrence of this 
phenomenon, Aubrey proceeds: — 



260 REMAINS OF OBNTILISME. 

'' In this pariah [ Wishford Magna] is a confident tradition that these 
seven children were all baptised at the font in this church, and that 
they were brought thither in a kind of chardger, which was dedicated 
to this church and hung on two nailes (which are to be seen there yet) 
neer the belfree on the south side. Some old men are yet living that 
doe remember the chardger. This tradition is entred into the register 
booke there, from whence I have taken this narrative." — Royal Soc. 
MS. fol. 180. 

To make F(Mf.— >'' Take an oaken bough in summer, or in winter a 
broom bush, putt either of them into the yest that workes, and let it 
imbibe as much as it will, so hang it up and keep it for your use. 
When you use it, putt a little of this to a little wort (i.) about two 
quarts bloud warm. This R Colonell Everton had from a Scotch 
yfhchy—Rotfal Soc. MS. fol. 303. 

Stohball-plaf/y a Wiltshire game, — " Stobball-play (it is peculiar to 
North Wilts, North Gloucestershire, and a little part of Somerset, near 
Bath), they shite * a ball stuffed very hard with quills, and covered 

with scale leather as big as a bullet, with a staffe commonly 

made of withy, about three and-a-half feet long. Colem-downe is 
the place so famous and so frequented for stobball playing. The 
turf is very fine, and the rock (i.) freestone is within an inch and 
half of the surface, which gives the ball so quick a rebound. A 
stobball ball is of about four inches diameter, stuffed very hard with 
quills sowed into soale leather, and as hard as a stone. I doe not 
heare that this game is used anywhere in England, but in this part of 
Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire adjoining. They strike the ball with 
a great turned staff of about four feet long.** Royal Soc, MS, fol. 
347. It is probably the same as 8tooUhall\ cfr. Brand (ed. Bohn), i. 
179, 180 ; ii. 442. 

Witches and Wizards. '^ In the time of King James the Ist there 

was one Cantelow, of Funthill, whom the countrey thereabout 

did repute a great wizard. Severall odd stories goe yet of him, but 
one to this purpose : a difference had been between the minister of 
Orston (or near Orston) and him ; and shortly after, when the minister 

* Halliwell reads '* strike," but in the MS. it is certainly " shite." 



FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY*S WORKS. 261 

was in bed, and going to his repose, he should heare in his chamber 
chimney the noise of a great passing bell, but without dore it was not 
heard. This noise continued every night for divers moneths, to the 
parson^s great vexation. Some did think it might be a trick contrived 
by a great virginal wire strained, but it was never discovered. About 
1649, one M'^ Bodnam, of Fisherton Anger (a poor woman that taught 
children to reade) was tryed for a witch at Salisbury, before the Chief 
Baron Wyld, and was executed. Evidence against her was that she 
did tell fortunes, and shewed people visions in a glasse, and that a maid 
saw the devill with her, with whom she made a contract, and that she 
knew 'twas the devill by his cloven foot; that a boy was carried up 
in the aire to a place covered with snow to gather certain plants, and 
that a black bore did shew where he should dig for them ; these herbs 
were for a philtre. Mr. Anth. Ettrick, of the Middle Temple (a very 
judicious gentleman), was a curious observer of the whole triall, and 

was not satisfied in the The crowd of spectators made 

such a noise that the judge could not heare the prisoner, nor the pri- 
soner the judge; but the words were handed from one to the other 
hy Mr. E. Chandler, and sometimes not truly reported. This memo- 
rable triall was printed by Bowers, one of the clarkes, about 

1651. 4to."— i?o^aZ Soc. MS. fol. 363. 



T 



INDEX. 



Abracadabra, 124, 235 
Absolution, 9 

Accounts, manner of keeping, 175 
Acorn used instead of cross, 95 
Adder, skin of, 3H, 224; remedy against 

its bite, 206, 224 
Adelm's (S.) Bell, 22, 96, 219 
Adonis, death of, 156 
Advent Sundays, folk-lore, 25 
Agapae, 41, 214, 224 
Agnes* Night (S.), dreams on, 64 
Agnus Dei hung from a steeple, 50 ; 

virtue of, 211 
Ague, amulet against, 118 ; spell and 

cures for, 125,185, 186, 192, 198, 200, 

257 
Ale, 70, 78, 87, 179; bones mixed with, 

165,239 
Ale-house doors, painting of, 212 
All Souls' Day, cakes on, 23 
Altars, 15, 20, 21, 218 ; placed at east 

end, 106; swearing before, 129, 131 
Ambrosden (Oxon.), customs at, 24, 

65; church at, 48 
Amulets, 32, 126, 209, 210, 222 ; coral 

worn as, 114 ; wolf's tooth as, 115 ; 

against ague, 118 
Amethysts, 210 
Anemone, use of, 185 
Angels with wings, 176 
Anglesea funeral custom, 23 
Antedock's well, 243 
Apollo's harp, 152, 168 
Apparitions, 144, 177, 252; on Mid- 
summer Eve, 26, 97 
Apples, blessing of, 96 
Arithmetical figures, 123 
Armilla, 205 

Arrows, divination by, 92, 116 
Arseverse, 136, 193 
Arthur (King), his taking of York 

and feasting thereafter, 5 
Ascendent, 176 
Aster as a medicine, 192 
Astrology, 176 
August called sere month, 123 



Baking, old way of, 20, 183 ; S. Stephen 
invoked in, 29 

Baptism, 9, 181 

Barbara, S., invoked, 22 

Bard, a prophetic, 134 

Bargain, striking a, 56, 228 

Barking of dog, 8 

Barley in sacrifice, 143 ; in invocations, 
148; as a Lar, 172; used as a cure 
for whitlow, 186 

Barm, 182 

Barrows, 68 

Baytree, against lightning, 89; crack- 
ling of leaves, 179; berries of, 187 

Beans, 133, 182; blue, rhyme regard- 
ing, 12, 216; king and queen of, 88, 
122, 183; burial of, 102, 103; in- 
visible, 102 

Beasts, to make tame, 189 

Beating pans when bees swarm, 15 

Beaumaris, custom at, 23 

Becket, S. Thomas, Tuesday con- 
nected with, 12; his path, 245 

Beef, powdered, used against fluxes, 
118 

Beer kept from souring by iron, 22, 
104, 178 

Bees, beating pans when they swarm, 
16, 87 

Bell, S. Adehn's, 22, 96 

Bells, power of, 19, 96 ; swearing by, 
131; rung at funerals, 166 

Bellyache, 188, 201 

Berkshire lore, 34; Wallingford Castle 
in, 48 

Bicester, rhyme concerning, 45 ; cakes 
at, 65 

Birch at Easter and Whitsuntide, 119 

Birds not breeding before a pestilence, 
249 

Bitch, spayed, 63 

Bite of a man poisonous, 250 

Black cut's head, 102 

Blear-eyes, 196 

Blessing, 62; of fields, 9; of deer and 
cattle, 77; of apples, 96; of the brine, 
223 



264 



INDEX. 



Blood, to stannch, 187, 192 

Bloody-bone and raw-head, 69 

Boar at Christmas, 141; Boar's head 

song, 142 
Bones mixed with ale, 165, 239 
Bonfires, 157; on Midsnmmer Eye, 26, 

220 
Bonnets, veiling of, 199 
Book, opening of, as an omen, 116; 

swearing by, 131 
Borage, drinking wine with, 109 
Bore-thistle, 175 
Borough-hill (Surrey), frequented by 

fairies, 123, 235 
Borrowing days, 96 
Botches, cure of, 191 
Bounds, 13 
Bowls, cheer in, 140 
Boy-bishop, 171 
Bramble, creeping under, 187 
Brass-pots, turning of, 206 
Brase-nose College Gate, 201 
Bread, holy, 7 ; unleayened, 9 ; cross 

made on, 51; gospel read oyer, 123 
Briars cut in August, 123 
Bride cakes, 22, 181 
Brig of Dread, 31, 221 
Brine, blessing of the, 223 
Bristol, tooth used at, as cure for tooth- 
ache, 164 
Brown's (Sir T.) Vulgar Errors, quoted, 

109; TJm Burial, quoted, 164 
Bruises, cures for, 255, 257 
Bryony, black, as an amulet, 186 
Bullet, silver, will kill a Hardman, 154 
Burial, Christian, 165 
Buming*of shed teeth, 11 ; of the dead, 

17; of cheek, 54, 96, 110, 195; of 

ear, 195 
Bury (Lancashire), use of simnels at, 

215 
Burying of black cat's head, 102; of 

beans, 102 
Butter-tower at Bouen, 209 

Cffisar, Julius, 14 

Cakes, 139, 140; soul, 23; for plough- 
men, 23 ; at Easter, 47 ; christening, 
65 ; dumb, 65 ; rocking, 65 

Caleshes, 122, 156 

Cancer, mud a cure for, 255 

Candle, stranger in, 57, 114 ; burning 
blue, 114; thief in, 26, 158; burning 
by corpse, 180 

Candlemas-day, 93, 95, 242 ; weather 
prognostic on, 234 

Candlerush, dancing the, 45 

Canonised saints, 66 

Cards, ill-luck at, 199 



Carols, 50, 160 

Casting drink on the ground, 37, 144, 
160, 179 

Casting lots, 24 

Cat, black, head of, 102 

Catherine, S., invoked, 29 

Cattle, prayers for, 131 

Catullus, extracts from, 150 

Caul, a child's, 113 

Causeway made by the devil, 264 

CereaUa, 85, 96, 140 

Chancels, 96 

Charistia, 13 

Charles I. and lots, 90 

Charms, 61, 124, 131, 180, 185, 190, 
194; tongues tied with, 11 ; against 
evil spirits, 12 ; herbs used as, 77, 
153 ; to bewitch, 86 ; against shot, 
154 

Caiaucer's Tergetors, 51, 135, 227 

Cheek burning, 54, 96, 110, 195 

Cheer in bowb, 140 

Cheese, Somerset proverb regarding, 
243 

Cheese fsJbs, 17 

Chequers, 212 

Cheshire, springs blessed in, 58, 223 ; 
eating at funerals in, 99 

Chess-boards, 209 

Child-bishop, 171 

Children, vowing of, 97 ; seven at a 
birth, 260 

CJhimneys, 149 

Chin-cough, cure for, 187 

Chiromantie, 99 

Christening, 42; christening cakes, 65 

Christian festivals, institution of, 6; 
burial, 165 

COiristmas, 88; customs, 5, 26, 89, 142, 
214; Christmas pies, 88; boar at, 141 

Church-ales, 47 

Churches, 106 ; dancing in, 5, 213 ; 
painted windows in, 48 ; form of, 49; 
situation of, 49 ; images in, 50 ; de- 
coration of, 72, 119, 122 ; lamps in, 
73 ; perfumes in, 77 ; consecrating, 
122 

Church-houses, 46 

Church-mawle, 127 

Churchyards, yew-trees in, 64, 165, 178, 
179 

Cimnells, 7, 14, 214 

Clock striking, prayer at, 34 

Cloud, small, a sign of thunder, 258 

Cloven hoof, 113, 261 

Club, carrying of, 41 

Coal and holly, 246 

Cock-crowing, 34, 161, 196 

Ck>ckle-bread, 43, 96, 225 



INDEX. 



265 



Cock-fighting, 178; at Shrovetide, 35 

Coynes, 210 

Coins, old, 181 

Commons, 18, 86 

Conies and roast meat, 248 

Conjuration, 176 

Consecrated things, 127 ; ground nn- 

lackj to bnild on, 254 
Consecrating chnrches, 122 
Coral connected with teeth, 114; as an 

amnlet, 114, 203, 204 
Com, preserving of, 184 ; prognostics 

of price of, 244, 258 
Cornfields, gospel read in, 69 
Coronets, 205 
Corpse carried head foremost, 167 ; 

candles burning by, 180 
Counter-charm, a, 87, 199 
Counters used for reckoning, 124 
Cowstealer's trick, 248 
Crests, 99 
Cromwell, Sept. 3rd associated with, 

12, 217 
Cross, the, 161; churches built inform 

of a, 49; towns built in form of, 50; 

sign of the, 51 
Cross-legged, sitting, 111, 199 
Crowing of cock, an omen, 196 
Crowns and garlands, 189 
Cuckolds, 40 
Cups, refined, 72 
Curricles, 85, 176 
Cutting hair, times for. 111 ; in a new 

moon, 180 
Cutting names on trees, 57 
Cutting oak-wood unlucky, 247 
Cymbals, 15, 167 
Cypress at funerals, 74 

Dancing the candlerush, 45 ; in 
churches, 5, 213 

Danesblood, or Danewort, 239 

Day-fatality, 12, 63, 216 

Days, names of, 99, 116 

Dead, burning of the, 17 ; masses for, 
18, 78; touch of the, 118, 197, 198, 
240; folklore of, 118; gifts for, 120; 
praying for, 194 ; unlucky on board 
ship, 67, 200 

Dead man's head, 102; hand, 103, 197, 
198, 240 

Dearth, springs a sign of, 244 

Death, signs of, 118, 180, 214; by en- 
chantment, 61, 228 

Decorating of churches, 72 

Derbyshire, well-flowering in, 223 

Devil, cloven hoof of, 113, 261 ; and holy 
water, 121; causeway made b^, 254 

Diamonds, 210 



Dill against witches, 82, 191 

Diriges, 18, 88 

Diseases, transplanting, 203 

Disinheriting eldest sons, 107 

Divination, 189, 211 

Diviningrod, 116, 234 

Dog barking, 8; spell against a mad, 

125; howling of, 163; cure of bite of 

a mad, 254 
Doles at funerals, 86 
Dorsetshire, haunted house in, 53; 

mazes in, 71; proverbs, 123 
Dotroa, 96 
Drawing lots, 24 
Dreams, 151; on St. Agnes* Night, 54; 

morning, 67 
Dressing of fountains, 32, 80, 84 
Drink, casting^ on the ground, 37, 144, 

160, 179; offering, 148 
Drinking custom, 6 ; healths, 13, 14, 

108 ; wine with borage, 109 
Droitwich, well-feast at salt-spring, 

33, 71, 203 
Drums, 150, 167 

Duels, herbs used as charms in, 77 
Dumbcake, 65 
Dungeons, 47 

Dust, throwing on one's head, 144 
Dwy, a meteor, 269 
Dye, purple, 158 

Ear burning, 195 

East, praline towards the, 17 ; altars 

placed m the, 106 
Efikster, cakes baked at, 47 ; tansies at, 

88 ; sun does not dance at, 1 13; birch 

used at, 119 
Eating together, as an oath, 130 
Edward VI. killed by witchcraft, 61 
Eggs filled with salt, used in divining 

marriage, 62 ; shells broken, 110, 

193 ; used in Midsummer Eve for 

divining, 133 ; an unequal number 

to be set, 178, 183; as a remedy 

against ague, Sec. 257 
Elder-stick worn against galling, 179, 

184, 239 
Eldest sons, disinheriting, 107 
Elvelocks, 111 

Enchantments, 126; death by, 61, 228 
Essex, Homchurch in, 76, 156 
Eton School, customs of, 132, 236 
Even or odd numbers, 63 
Evil tongue, 12, 60, 80 
Exorcism, 104, 131, 207 
Eyelid itching, 54, 164 
Eyes, fascinating, 80; pin and web in 

the, 189 
Eyesight, remedy against defective, 187 



266 



IKDEX. 



Face, moles in the, 197 

Fair Roeamond, 70, 230 

Fairies, 28-9, 122, 177, 235; children 

stolen by, 30; money of, 102, 125 
Fairs, 108 

Falling sickness, 199 
Fascination, 80, 200 
Fannns and Picns, 14, 84 
Feasts, 119, 143; at funerals, 143 
Febmaiy called sowle-grore, 9, 123, 216 
Felling of timber, 260 
Fellon, cure for a, 203 
Feralia, 42 

Fermented liquors, 133 
Fertility of women, 10 
Festivals, institution of Christian, 6 
Fetter-lane, 98 
Fen de joie, 157 
Fevers, remedy for, 204, 267 
Fig, the Spanish, 258 
Figures, 123 
Fingers, speaking by, 61 
Fire, ordeal by, 16, 126; St. Syth 
invoked against, 29 ; Midsummer 
eve, 26, 96 ; spell against, 136 ; used 
at Lapland marriages, 150 
First-fruits, 71 
Flag, white, 75 
Fleet (=water), 31 
Flies, 202 

Flint, preservative against hag-riding, 
28; used at Lapland marriages, 150 
Flowers in churches, 72 ; at funerals, 

184; images dressed with, 185 
Flaxes, powdered beef used against, 

118 
Fontinalia, 32, 80 
Fools* holy day, 10 
Forenoon, 121 

Foresters, offerings of, 77, 174 
Forests, 18 
Fortune-tellers, 140 
Foundations, 208 
Fountains, adoring of, 32, 80, 84 
Four, the number, 199 
Foxes, Sampson's, 17 ; meeting of, 109 
Frankincense, 64 
Frensham (Surrey), fairy cauldron at, 

123, 235 
Friars' frocks, 152 
Fritters, 182 

Frog buried in deld, 184 ; hung on 
threshold, i^.; as a remedy for fever, 
204 
Fruits, gathering of, 194 
Fuga Daemonum, 82, 191, 231 
Funerals, howling at, 21; offertories 
at, 23, 64-5, 219; singing and play- 
ing at, 20, 145, 220; sin-eating, 19, 



Vnnenh—continued 
24, 35; customs, 66; feasts at, 143; 
suppers at, 165; music at, 166; strew- 
, ing of flowers at, 184; rosemary at, 
74; eating at, 99, 146; garlands at, 
1 09, 139, 178 
Furmetrie, 34, 182 

(falling, elder stick worn against, 178, 
184, 188 

Gallows, chips of, a cure for ague, 118 

Garlands, 74, 109, 136, 139, 178, 236 

Gathering of fruits, 194 

Generation, spontaneous, 246 

Gentilisme, 65, 162 

George, S., and the Dragon, 68, 229 

German customs, 10, 11, 18, 21, 24, 25, 
26, 27, 30, 36, 46, 47, 51, 56, 65, 75, 
80, 87, 93, 104, 109, 110, 115, 119, 
126, 139, 166 

Ghosts, 10, 19, 169, 167; vanishing of, 
87 

Gifts, New Year's, 8; to temples, 209 

Ginger, against toothache, 193; in cut- 
ting teeth, 204 

Gipsies, springs so called, 245 

Girdles, 43, 60, 112 

Giying the hand, 132, 145, 174 

Glories, 147; of saints, 148, 163 

Gloucestershire: Gloucester built in a 
cruciform shape, 50; Turvey or Tur- 
vill Acton, 77, 174, 239 

" God, in the name of,'* an invocation, 
195 

God the Father, picture of, 112 

Godfather, swearing by his hand, 131; 
wolf taken for, 131 

God's Eichell, a, 7 

Gods, perfumes offered to the. 16 

Gold, 205, 206 

Goodfellow, Robin, 14, 81, 84, 86 

Goodman, 170, 181 

Goose bone foretells weather, 93 

Gospels read at springs, 34, 58 ; in 
cornfields, 59; over bread, 123; sing- 
ing of, 160 

Gossips' bowl, 35 

Gout, bones used against, 165 ; snails 
used against, 257 

Grace, saying, 146 

Grace cup, 148 

Grafting, 180 

Grass, love divination with, 82 ; cure 
in kirg's evil, 190 

Graves, roses planted on, 155 ; laying 
with head westward in, 166 ; plants 
springing from, 175 

Graveyard superstition, 253 

Green man, sign of the, 177 



INDEX. 



267 



Groaning of trees when felled, 247 

Grope Alley, 97 

Gronndsel a cnre for toothache, 191 

Hag-ridden, horses being, 28 

Hair, folk-lore, 25, 111 ; cropping of, 

37; figore of, nsed in witchcraft, 61 ; 

cutting of. 111, 181 
Halcyon-days, 76 
Halter nsed against ague, 198 
Hampshire, sheepshearing in, 34 ; 

foresters in, 77, 174 
Handsel, 80 
Hands, joining of, 56; giving the, 129, 

132; swearing by, 131; washing of , 

145, 146; lucky* 183; kissing, 195; 

dead, 103, 197, 198 
Hangings, 209 
Hanging up squills, 184 
Hangman *s rope, 198, 241 
Hard-men, 75, 152, 153, 237 
Hare unlucky, 26, 109; flesh of, 101; 

suicide of, 102 ; a remedy in yarious 

cases 201 
Harp, Apollo's, 152, 168 
Harpers, 27, 169 
Hart-of-grease, 76 
Harvest custom, 34, 65 
Hatband, skin of adder worn as, 38, 224 
Hats, removing, 37 
Haunted houses, 53, 104 
Hazel rod used in discovering ruins, 115 
Headache, snakeskin worn against, 38, 

224 ; laurel berries used against, 

187; smilax used against, 189; cure 

for, 198, 202 
Healing springs, 243 
Healths, drinking, 13, 14, 108, 147 
Hemp seed, 95 
Herbs as charms in duels, 77, 153; 

against enchantments, 82 ; properties 

of, 185 
Hercules, 134; Hercules' knot, 199 
Hereford Cathedral, 165 
Herefordshire, tabor ahd pipe in, 15; 

baking in, 21, 182; folklore, 22, 39, 

104, 178, 195; harvest custom, 34; 

funeral custom, 35; moon lore in, 37; 

blessing of apples in, 96 ; trial of 

witches in, 126 
Heroes, singing acts of, 146 
Highlanders, 150 
High-places, 22, 87, 98 
Hills, churches built on, 22, 87, 98 
Hindering labour, 73, 111 
Hobbes's " Leviathan," quoted, 6 ; 

'< Historia Ecclesiastica," quoted, 119 
Hodmendods (= scarecrows, 184) 
" Ho, ho," of Robin Goodfellow, 81 



Holder (= fang-tooth), 204 

Holly used in churches, 122 ; planted 

near houses, 189; and coal, 246 
Holy bread, 7 

Holy days, not working on, 140, 151 
Holy mawle, 19, 167, 217 
Holy Thursday, ram hunted on, 132; 

well-flowering on, 223 
Holy water, 19, 121, 128; the devil 

and, 121 
Holy-water-sprinkle, 16, 20, 217 
Home harvests, 34, 65 
Homer's Iliad, extracts from, 143 
Honey a remedy for bruises, 267 
Hoof, cloven, 113 
Horace quoted, 33, 36 
Horloge, 209 
Homchurch, 76, 156 
Horns, 40, 156; stags', 76; of cattle, 

how shaped, 248 
Horse, head of, on hedges, 184 
Horses, bled on S. Stephen's Day, 27; 

hag-ridden, 28 
Horseshoe and witches, 27, 104; on 

threshold, 123, 204 
Hot-cockles, 30 
Hours, the planetary, 100 
Houseleek planted against thunder, 167 
Houses, haunted, 53, 104; on fire, to 

save, 136, 193 
Howling at funerals, 21 ; of dogs, 163 
Howschole, 40 
Howselin, 37 
Husbands, folk-lore connected with 

choosing, 24 
Hydrophobia, remedy for, 224 
Hypericum, 82, 191, 231 

Hl-luck, sitting crosslegged a sign of. 

Images in churches, 60; nodding of, 57, 
228 ; made of rye-dough, 107 ; in 
ships, 169; dressed with flowers, 185 

Immuring of nmis, 20, 122, 218 

Impotence, 188 

Incense, 64 

Inflammation, spell against, 125, 192 

Insect indicating presence of saltpetre, 

InvisibUity, 63, 102, 181, 211 

Invoking the moon, 83 

Irish customs, 21, 27, 37, 42, 63, 99, 116, 

131, 172, 190, 204; oaths, 131 
Iron, 206 ; used against thunder, 22, 

104, 178 
Itching of eyelid, 64, 164 
Ivy used at Christmas, 5 ; tavern-bush 

dressed with, 108 ; churches dressed 

with, 122 



268 



INDEX. 



Jack a' Lent, 162, 238 
Januaiy, weather in, 7 
Janndice, tenches a core for, 256 
Jews, belief of regarding beans, 102; 

▼eiled at divine serrice, 156 
Joint-goat, 201 
Jonmcy, Caesar's ose of a charm on 

going a, 194 
Jupiter's beard (= hooseleek), 167 

Katharine, S. inroked, 29 

Keepers* offerings to S. Lake, 77, 173 

Kent, folk-lore, 22, 104; how valen- 
tines are chosen in, 24; bread folk- 
lore, 51; whipping Tom in, 59; cas- 
toms, 182; proverb, 197 

KicheU, 7 

King of the bean, 88, 122, 183 

King's health, drinking, 13; evil, cores 
for, 186, 187, 190, 241 

Kirk-garth, 179 

Kissing, 149; of right hand, 195 

Kit-of-the-candlestick, 243 

Knife, divination by, 25, 92, 93 

Knockings, 252 

Knots, lovers', 82, 110, 232; Hercnles', 
199 

Labonr, hindering, 73, 111 

Labyrinth, 70, 208 

Lamps, 122; in chorches, 73 

Lancashire, simnels in, 215 

Laplanders, marriage custom of, 150 

Lapwings laying in an easterly position, 
260 

Lares, 12; wheat or barley used as, 
172 

Laurel garland, 139 

Left hand, rings worn on, 40 

Lent, simnels used in, 14, 214; coo- 
toms, 161, 238 

Letters, initial, 39 ; nnmber of, in name, 
divination by, 197 

Levants, 244 

Lew (s= warm), 9, 123, 216 

Libum, 7 

Lide, March called, 13 

Lightning, 195 

Lincolnsmre, snake-lore of, 38 

Lions' heads, springs adorned with, 
111 

Liquors, fermented, 133 

Livery, 186 

Lizards thought poisonous, 249 

Loaches drunk in sack, 256 

Loudon, horseshoes used against witches 
in, 27, 104, 204 ; pardon of malefac- 
tors in, 126; spitting on money in, 
231 



I 



Lord of Misrule, 88, 122 

Lot-meads, 92, 233 

Lots, 16, 24, 90, 115, 143, 145, 146, 160, 

175, 232 
Love-charm, 190 
Love-feasts, 13, 14, 224 
Love-knots, 82, 110, 232 
Lovers, customs of, 84 
Loving cup, 6, 214 
Lucky hand, 183 
Luke, S., offerings to, 77, 173 
Lying, signs of, 28 
Lyre, 168 

Mad dog, spell against, 125 

Magic, instances of, 52, 64, 83, 189, 
190 

Magpie chattering, 26; building high 
a sign of wet, 258 

Maids' funerals, garlands at, 178 

Malachi (S.)» prophecies of, 134 

Malefactors, pardon of, 126 

Man, wild, sign of, 134; bite of, poi- 
sonous, 250 

Maps, 158 

March called Lide, 13 

March-paines, 14 

Margaret, S., chapel dedicated to, 174 

Marriage, 173; times prohibiting, 61; 
divination regarding, 62; criminal 
pardoned if marriage be promised, 
126 ; fire and flint used at, 150 

Masses for the dead, 18, 78 

Master of the feast, 149 

Mawle, church or holy, 19, 127, 217 

May-day, 18, 119 

Maydew beneficial, 250 

May Eve custom, 119 ; meeting of 
witches on, 18 

Maypole, 119, 139 

Mazar-bowle, 35 

Mazes, 70, 140, 208, 230 

Meals, music at, 27 

Meat, salting, at wane of moon, 201 

Mere-stones, 13, 127 

Merry-thought, divination by, 92, 93 ; 
why so called, 92 

Midsummer Eve customs, 26, 97, 119, 
133, 152; bonfires on, 26, 96, 220; 
charm for invisibility, 53, 181 

Midsunmier-men, 25, 220 

Midwives' custom, 73 . 

Minerva patroness of scholars, 15 

Misrule, lord of, 88, 122 

Misseltoe, 89 

Mizmazes, 70, 140, 230 

Moles in the face, 197 

Moly, 189 

Monday, not paring nails on, 196 



INDEX. 



269 



Mone^ left by fairies, 29, 102, 125, 235; 

buried with the dead, 159, 165 
Moon, new, 36, 131, 142, 180 ; inyoca- 

tion of, 83 ; observations oif 85 ; 

figure of, 112; cnring warts by, 118; 

salting meat at wane of, 201 
Moonwort, power of, 248 
Morning dreams, 57 
Morrow-masses, 46 
Mountain ash against witches, 247 
Monming, sign of, 144; time of, 146 
MSS., price of copying, 160 
Mnd a cure for cancer, 255 
Mnsic at meals, 27 
Myrrh, 75 
Myrtle as a remedy, 188 

Nail, iron, in falling sickness, 199; 

and woodpecker, 248 
Nailboame, 244 

Nails, paring. 111, 196; spots on, 113 
Names, 40; cut on trees, 57, 156; of 

week-days, 99 
Needle given to fellows of Queen's Col- 
lege, Oxford, 142 
New moon, 36, 83, 85, 131, 142 
New Year's Day, 8, 194; custom at 

Oxford, 142 ; gifts, 8 ; Eye folk-lore, 95 
Newnton (Wilts), Trinity Sunday 

custom at, 136, 236 
Newts thought poisonous, 249 
Niall (= woodpecker), 268 
Nickard, 30 

Nightmare, to prevent, 118 
Nodding of images, 67, 228 
Noel, 5 

Nonvelle (= noveltjr), 7, 181 
Numbers, 196; unlucky, 60; even or 

odd^ 63, 183, 187, 188, 194, 198, 199, 

200 
Nuns, immuring of, 20, 122, 218 

O Sapientia, 341 

Oak used by Druids, &c. 95; sacred, 

148; groaning when felled, 247 
Oaths, 128; Irish, 131 
Odd number, 63, 183, 187, 188, 1S4, 198 
Offerings to S. Luke,77,'173 
Offertories at funerals, 26, 64, 65, 219 
Old Wives' Tales, 67, 229 
Omens, 8, 20, 26, 31, 32, 75, 109, 115, 

152, 177, 180, 196 
Ordeal by fire, 16, 126; by water, 126 
Organs in churches, 20 
Orpine, divination by, 25, 220 
Oswald, S., invoked, 16, 29, 220 
Osythe, S., invoked, 29 
Ovid, extracts from Fattiy 6; JSpistlsg, 

56 



Owls, unlucky, 64, 75, 109, 156 

Oxen, wassailing of, 9, 40 ; protected 
from witches, 247 

Oxford, shape of, 50; May custom at, 
18 ; Holy Thursday custom at, 32 ; 
spring at, 34 ; O Sapientia observed 
at, 41; Christmas and New Year's 
customs, 142 ; Whitsuntide custom, 
202 

Oxfordshire (Launton), Christmas cus- 
tom, 5; funeral custom, 24 ; cockle- 
bread in, 44; dancing the candlenu^ 
in, 44; haunted house in, 53; gospel 
read at Stanlake, 59 ; cakes in, 65 
garlands in, 75 ; May pole, 119 
springs in, 121 ; Lent custom, 161 
burial at Middleton Stony, 166. See 
also Ambrosden 

Pain benit, 7 

Painted windows, 48 

Palilia, 34, 161 

Palm Sunday custom, 9 

Pancakes, 182 

Pardon of malefactors, 126 

Paring nails. 111, 196 

Paris (Matthew), quoted, 12 

Parley, white flag hung out for, 75 

Parson's penny, 219 

Pasque-flower, 188 

Passage of souls over Whinny-moor, 

31, 149 
Paul's Day (S.)j weather lore of, 94, 

96 
Pea, queen of the, on Twelfth night, 

183 
Penance in white sheet, 151 
Penny put in mouth of the dead, 159 ; 

the parson's, 219 
Pentacle, 61, 124, 225 
Pentalpha, 50, 225 
Pentangle of Solomon, 51 
Perambulations, 13, 17 
Perfumes offered to the Gods, 16; in 

churches, 77 
Periwigs, 61, 151 
Persius quoted, 38, 42 
Pestilence, birds not breeding before, 

249 
Peter, S., penny offered to, 159 
Phantoms, 10 
Picus and Faunus, 14, 84 
Pillar and tomb, 144 . 
Pimlico, to walk in, 243 
Pin and web in the eyes, 189, 240 
Pins, 67 

Pipes, 20, 62; and tabor, 15, 217 
P— sine, 99, 200, 201 
Pitched cans, 179 

U 



270 



INDBX. 



Plagne, toadi a remedy againat, 266 

Planets, sinu of, 124 

Planetary noun, 100 

Plants, popular remedies connected 
with, 254; on grares, 175, 239 

Plantns quoted, 45 

Plighting of troth, 56 

Pliny's Natural Hutory quoted, 176 

Ploughmen's feasts, 9 

Plygain, 161, 238 

Poisons, 209 

Polenta, 182 

Populns, 134 

Porcelain, 158 

Portents, 79, 85, 86 

Prayer on going to bed, 34; for cattle, 
131 ; washing before, 146, 148 ; 
power of, 176; for the dead, 194 

Praying towards the east, 17; to saints, 
28,79 

PreserratiTe, a, 126, 190 

Price of copying MSS., 160 

Prophets, 134 

Prostration, 64, 120 

ProYcrbs, 120, 235, 242 ; Welsh, on 
weather, 7; Wilts, 9, 123, 242; West 
of England, 13, 242; concerning rye- 
dough, 107 

Pudding cake, 182 

Purgation, 17 

Purgatory, 10 

Purple dye, 158, 238 

Putting-off of hats, 37 

Putting on the right shoe first, 175 

Quarrelling caused by washing to- 
gether, &c. 99 

Quartan ague, spell against, 125, 198 

Queen of ue Pea, 183 

Quick-grass, a cure for king*s evil, 
190 

Quintain, riding at the, 171 

Babbits, »ee Conies 

Rain, charm a^inst, 180; sign of, 258 

Raising of spirits, 211 

Bam hunted on Holy Thursday, 132 

Bat gnawing, 177 

Bayens unlucky, 109 

Baw-head and bloody-bone, 59 

Bayer, 21 

Bebuses, 207 

Beceiying of sortes, 16 

Befined cups, 72 

Beseda used as a spell, 125, 192 

Beyels, origin of, 46, 224 

Bhabdomancy, 115 

Bhyme, local, 247 

Bhymers, 81 



Bichaid, a, his wdl at Droitwich, 33, 

71,224 
Bicketts, the, 260 
Riding at the quintain, 171 
Bight hand, 78, 178; giving of, 145. 

174; shoe, 175 
Ring, 79, 204, 231 ; worn <m left hand, 

40; fingers, 205 
Biuffworm, cure for, 192 
Bobm GkxMlfellow, 14, 81, 84, 86 
Rockin^-€ake, 66 
Bod, diyining, 116, 234; magic, 116; 

Moees', 516 
Bogation-days, gospels read on, 59 
Bosamond, Fair, 70, 230 
Bose, a sign of silence, 110 ; planted 

on grayes, 165 
Boeemaiy at funerals, 74 
Bubigalia, 17 
Bye-dough, images of, 107 

Sacred oak, 148 

Sacrifice, salt and barley in, 143; of 
wine, 144; washing hands before, 
146 ; before meat, 146 

St John's Wort, 82, 191, 231 

Saints painted on ships, 56, 139; canon- 
ised, 66 ; prayers to, 79 ; glories of, 
148, 163 

Salisbury, boy-bishop at, 171 ; tradi- 
tion of church at, 208; of pillars of, 
251 ; legend of site of, 251 

Salt, 162 ; strewing of, 163 ; burning 
of teeth with, 11,27; Christmas folk- 
lore, 26; falling of, 32, 110; 'against 
evil spirits, 121 ; Eton custom re- 
garding, 132, 236 

Salting meat at wane of moon, 201 

Saltpetre, presence o^ indicated by an 
insect, 254 

Samolus, 188 

Sampson's foxes, 16 

Sayine, 188 

Saying grace, 146 

Scapegoat, 35 

Scarecrow, 184 

Scarlet, the colour as a remedy in 
smallpox, 49, 226 

School folk-lore and customs, 26, 40, 
41, 161 

Sciatica, 193 

Scottish folk-lore and customs, 36, 83, 
177, 182 

Scotland, moon worshipped in, 142 

Screech-owls, 64, 75, 158 

Scutcheons in windows, 207 

Sea-mews a sign of a storm, 257 

Secret writing, 63 

Seisin, 186 



INDEX. 



271 



Sere month (= Angnst), 123 

Serenades, 18 

Serpents, 38; used in charm for inyisi- 
bility, 53, 181 

Servi, 47 

Seven children at a birth, 260 

Sevennight, 17 

Shaling (= shedding of teeth), 11, 27 

Shavelings, 162 

Shears and sieve, 25, 164 

Sheep, S. Oswald invoked for, 29 

Sheep-shearing, 34 

Sheet, white, penance in, 161 

Shepherds, wages of, 46 

Shields, 69, 77 

Ship, dead bodies, &c., nnlncky on, 67, 
200; image of saint on, 66, 159 

Shoe, putting on the right first, 176 

Shot, charm against, 163 

Shropshire, soul-cakes in, 23 

Shrovetide, cockfighting at, 36, 41 ; 
Eton, custom at, 132 

Sieve and shears, 25, 164 

Signets, 205 

Sillyhow (= caul), 113, 234 

Silver bullet will kill a Hardman, 164; 
boats for drinking, 210 

Smmels, 7, 14, 214 

Sin-eaters, 19, 24, 36 

Singeing of swine, 144 

Singing at funerals, 30, 146; of gos- 
pels and carols, 160 

Sirens, 163 

Sistrum, 16 

Sitting cross-legged. 111, 199 

Sleet, 221 

Slough of an adder, 38, 224 

Smallpox, remedial property of scarlet 
in, 49, 226 

Smoke follows the fairest. 111 

Snails a remedy against gout, 267 

Snake, see Adder 

Sneezing, 103, 104, 160, 177, 194 

Somersetshire customs, 40, 41 ; Mid- 
summer fires in, 96 ; toad folk-lore 
in, 183, 184; lot-meads, 233; pro- 
verb, 243 

Son, disinherited eldest, 107 

Sorcery, 164 

Sortes,16, 90,116,146,146, 160,176,232 

Soul cakes, 23 

Souls, passage of, over Whinny Moor, 
31, 149 

Sowle-grove, 9, 123, 216 

Spade money, 219 

Spanish fig, 268 

Sparring a door (= barring), 66 

Speaking by one's fingers, 61 

Spells, 124, 126, 131, 136 



Spirits, charm against evil, 12 ; in sacri. 

fice, 143; appearing of , 144; raising 

of, 211 
Spittle, 42, 80, 169, 190, 196, 231 
Spleen, recipe for, 184 
Spontaiieous generation, 246 
Spots on the nails, 113 
Spring, swallow a sign of, 114 
Springs, gospel read at, 34 ; at Oxford, 

34; in Cheshire, 68; adorned with 

lions' heads. 111; in Oxfordshire, 

121; healing, 243; a sign of dearth, 

244 ; giving warning of political 

changes, 246; a sign of dry or wet 

weather, 267 
Squatmore, 266 
Squills, hanging up, 184 
Squires, 77 

Staffordshire, rhymes in, 81 
Staffs and sceptres, 172 
Stags' horns, 76 

Stanlake (Oxon.), gospel read at, 59 
Star of the earth, 254, 256 
Stephen, S., horses bled on his day, 27; 

invoked in baking, 29 
Stews, 97, 234 

Stick, falling of, as an omen, 116 
Stobball-play, a Wilts game, 260 
Stone, with a hole, against nightmare, 

28, 118; the warning, 246 
Stonehenge, tradition regarding, 252 
Storm, seamews a sign of, 257 
Stranger in the candle, 57, 114 
Strawberries sometimes injurious, 246 
Strewing of salt, 163 ; of tombs, 165 ; 

of flowers, 184 
Striking a bargain, 56, 228 
Stroking with dead hand, 198, 240 
Stumbling at threshold unlucky, 26, 66, 

60, 177 
Sun, picture of, 112; does not dance on 

Easter Day, 113 
Sunningwell (Berks.), gospel read at 

springs, 34 
Suppers at funerals, 146 
Surplices, 17 
Surrey, mazes in, 71; fairy-ground in, 

123, 235; roses on graves in, 156; 

graveyard superstitions in, 263; 

causeway made by the devil in, 254 
Sussex, snake-lore of, 38, 228 ; cause- 
way made by the devil in, 254 
Swallow, one does not make spring, 

13; sign of spring, 114; unlucky to 

kill, 114 
Swarming of bees, pans beaten at, 16, 

87 
Swearing, 128, 173 
Swifts (= newts), 249 



272 



INDEX. 



Swimming, trial of witches by, 126 
Swiss folk-lore, 23 
Sjthe, S. (« 08}'the), 29 

Table-books, 167 

Tabor, 15, 62, 150, 167; and pipe, 15^ 

217 
Talismans, 96 
Tansies at Easter, 88 
Tapers in cbnrches, 73 
Tapestry, 209 
Tasters, 210 
Tavem-bnsh, 108 
Teeth, bnming of with salt, 11, 27 ; 

coral connected with, 114; worn 

against toothache, 164 
Tele-house, 136 
TempesU, 211 

Tenches a cnre for janndice, 256 
Temples, gifts to, 209 
Tergetors or Tregetors, 51, 135, 227 
Tetter, cnre for, 192 
Theocritus quoted, 108, 109 
Thief in candle, 26, 158 
Thieves and dead man's hand, 103 ; 

their handsel unlucky, 120 
Thorn a protection agaonst witches, 18 
Three, the number, 87 
Threshold, stumbling at, 26, 56; horse- 
shoe on, 123, 204 
Throwing dust on one's head, 144 
Thunder, charms against, 22, 167 
Thursday (Holy), ram hunted on, 132 
Tibullus, extracts from, 151 
Tilting, 120 
Timber folk-lore, 269 
Tinned pots, 207 
Tintinnabula, 208 
Toad buried in fields, 183; found in 

an ash tree, 260; a remedy against 

the plague, 256 
Tom, Whipping, 59, 228 ; a-Bedlam, 

205, 241 
Tomb and pillar, 144 
Tombs, strewing of, 165 
Tongue, an evil, 60, 80; charm against, 

12 
Tongues tied with a charm, 11 
Tonsures, 177 
Toothache, 198; tooth worn against, 

164; groundsel used against, 191; 

ginger used against, 193; cure for, 

198 
Tournaments, 127 
Towns built in form of a cross, 50 
Transplanting diseases, 203 
Trees, 96; cutting names on, 57, 156; 

spontaneous falling of, 180; groaning 

when felled, 247 



Tregetors, 51, 136, 227 

Trial of witches by swimming, 126 

Trinity, the, 106 

Trinity Sunday custom at Newnton, 
136,236 

Troth, plighting of, 66 

Tme lores knots, 82, 110, 232 

Twelfth eve custom, 40; Twelre-tide, 
66,183 

Turnips, 183 

Tnmsol, 186 

Turvill Acton, chapel at, 174, 239 

Twosole, S. (= St. Oswald), 29, 220 

Twy, a meteor, 269 

Tying of tongues with a charm, 11 

" Ungirt, unbless't," 60, 112 

Unleavened bread, 9 

Unlucky number, 60; days, 63; crea- 
tures, 181 

Urine as a charm, 118 

Valentines, how chosen in Kent, 24 

Vanishing of ghosts, 87 

Vastellus, 8 

Veiling of bonnets, 199 

Verbascum a cure for botches, 191 

Verbena, 191 

Vervain, 82, 191 

Victims, 143 

Villains, 47, 68, 136; whipping of, 58 

Vine, wild, 186, 256 

Violin, 168 

Viper, see Adder 

Vipse, a spring, 246 

Virgil, extracts from, 80 

Vowing of children, 97 

Wafers, 86; used in Lent, 14 

Wakes, origin of, 46 

Wales, rhymes in, 81 

Walking after death, 36 

Wallingford Castle, Berks, 48 

Walnut-pith as a remedy, 265 

Warming-stone, 246 

Warts, cures for, 118, 186 

Warwickshire, rhymes in, 81 ; funeral 
custom in, 99 

Washing together a cause of quarrel- 
ling, 99; hands before sacrifice or 
prayer, 146, 146, 148 

Wassaile cakes and custom, 9, 40 

Wassal bowls, 8 

Wastell bread, 7; bowls, 8 

Water, ordeal by, 126; holy, 19, 121, 
128 

Wax, figure of, used in witchcraft, €1 

Weariness, cure for, 192 

Wearing of an elder-stick, 178, 184, 
239 



INDEX. 



273 



Weather-lore, 7, 9, 13, 93, 183, 236, 267 

Wedding-riDgs, 204 

Weddings ont, 14, 19; riding at qnin- 

1 tain at, 171 

Weekdays, names of, 99, 116 

Wells, feasts about, 32, 121, 222 

Welsh weather proyerb, 7; customs, 16, 
20, 27, 36, 37, 159, 161, 183, 219; 
hnbbnbs, 173; boats, 176 

Werewolf, 66 

West of England, March called Lide 
in, 13; cnstoms, 40, 45 

Westchester, May Etc cnstom at, 119 

Westminster, maze at, 71 

Wheat used as a Lar, 172 

Whinny-moor, 31, 149 

Whipping Tom, 59, 228 

Whistling, 21; for wind, 21, 196 

White flag, 76; sheet, penance in, 161 

Whitlow, cure for, 186 

Whitsuntide, birch at, 119; Oxford 
cnstom at, 202 

Whitty-tree, 247 

Whore on shipboard, 67, 200 

Widows, marriage of, 7 

Wild man, sign of the, 134, 177 

Willow garlands, 75 

Wilts, stobball-play in, 260; elder-stick 
worn in, 178, 184 ; offerings to S. 
Luke in, 173 ; hot-cockles phiyed in, 
96; blessing of cattle in, 77; sheep- 
shearing in, 34 ; mazes in, 71; gar- 
lands in, 74; February called Sowle- 
groYe in, 9, 123; S. Oswald inyoked 
in, 16; marriage lore, 24; harvest 
custom, 34; lot-meads in, 92; Newn- 
ton custom, 136, 235 

Wind, whistling for, 21, 195 

Windows, painted, 48 ; at Salisbury, 
105; scutcheons in, 207 



Wine offered to the gods, 144, 146, 170 
Winnowers whistling for wind, 195 
Wishing a happy new year, 8, 194 
Witchcraft, 61, 191 
Witches, 69, 177, 260; custom of, 10; 

test for, 10, 126 ; meeting of, on 

May Eve, 18 ; and streams, 27 ; 

horseshoes used against, 27, 104 ; 

using eggshells, 110, 193 ; preserva- 

tiye against, 247 
Witches' night, 133 
Wizards, 260 
Wolf, tooth of, as an amulet, 115, 204; 

taken for godfather, 131 
Women, ferflity of, 10 
Woodpecker and nail, 248 ; cry of, a 

sign of rain, 268 
Woodstock, haunted house at, 63; May 

Eye custom, 119 
Woolpacks, church said to be built on, 

208; London Bridge said to be built 

on, 209 
Worcestershire custom, 21 ; well-dress- 
ing in, 33, 71 
Writing, secret, 63 

Yeast, 182, 260 

Yew trees in churchyards, 64, 178, 
179 

York taken by King Arthur, 5 

Yorkshire Christmas customs, 5; howl- 
ing at funerals, 21 ; funeral customs, 
30; Whinny-moor in, 31, 149; min- 
strels, 21 ; inyocation of new moon, 
83; spitting on money in, 231 

Yowle, a cry for wind, 21 

Yu-batch, 5 

Yule, 5, 170 

Yule-games, 6 

Yule-log, 6, 2, 13 



/